A highly-anticipated Pentagon inspector general “Signalgate” report finds that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth potentially put a military strike in Yemen and troops at risk by sharing sensitive information to a Signal group chat, but Trump administration officials say the report clears Mr. Hegseth of wrongdoing.

The investigation was launched after the editor of the Atlantic magazine was added to a March group chat in which Mr. Hegseth and other government officials were discussing plans for military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Jeffrey Goldberg says he was invited to the chat by the national security adviser, Mike Waltz. In the Signal messages, Mr. Hegseth gave information about the blow-by-blow of the operation ahead of time, including when the operation would launch and which weapons systems would be used, according to a transcript of the chat released by the Atlantic.

The watchdog determined that Mr. Hegseth could have endangered American troops by sharing sensitive military information on a private phone using a publicly-available chat platform.

Mr. Hegseth declined to be interviewed for the investigation and instead provided a written statement in which he said he was authorized to declassify the information and he only texted information that would not endanger troops.

Investigators say they were only given some messages from the Signal chat and relied on the transcript of the chat the Atlantic posted for a full record. The investigation found the chat had contained information that had been labeled as secret.

“We concluded that the Secretary sent sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone,” The report concluded while noting the secretary has declassification authority. 

The report did knock Mr. Hegseth for using his private phone for the group chat, which is prohibited for official business. It also cited Signal as a “nonapproved” messaging application.

“Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives,” the report found.

The report recommended a review of classification procedures at the department but did not recommend any sanctions for Mr. Hegseth.

The Trump administration touted the findings as clearing Mr. Hegseth.

“This Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along — no classified information was shared,” a spokesman for the Pentagon, Sean Parnell, said in an X post ahead of its public release.

“This matter is resolved and the case is closed,” Mr. Parnell continued.

Mr. Hegseth reposted the message and added, “No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission. Thank you for your attention to this IG report.”

Senator Mark Kelly, who reviewed the report before it was publicly released, told reporters on Wednesday that he was concerned that Mr. Hegseth had violated defense regulations.

“So whether that’s breaking the law, you got to figure that out,” Mr. Kelly said.