Pete Hegseth's Signal chat use put US troops at risk, finds Pentagon watchdog

The Inspector General's report, however, found that Pete Hegseth has the authority to declassify material but did not determine that he did so improperly.

The US Inspector General delivered a review of defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal app during a military strike on Yemen's Houthi rebels and found that he put US personnel and their mission at risk when he used the messaging app to convey sensitive information about the mission.

According to the sources familiar with the investigation, as quoted in a CNN report, the probe by the inspector general's office, however, concluded that Hegseth did not violate rules on classification because he has the authority to declassify information.

The review by the Pentagon inspector general’s office was delivered to lawmakers, who were