On Thursday, the Pentagon's acting inspector general announced a review into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to coordinate a military strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. The investigation will also examine whether other defense officials used Signal — a public app not approved for classified communication and outside the Pentagon’s secure systems — to discuss sensitive military plans.

Hegseth’s use of Signal was revealed when journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic was accidentally added to a group chat by national security adviser Mike Waltz. That chat included several top officials — Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others — who were coordinating a March 15 operation targeting Iran-backed Houthis.

In that Signal thread, Hegseth reportedly shared precise details about when U.S. warplanes would launch and when bombs would be dropped — all before the mission had commenced. Acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins said the review would assess whether Hegseth and other Defense Department personnel followed official policies for using commercial messaging apps, and whether they complied with rules on classified information and record-keeping.

The investigation was initiated following requests from Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s leading Democrat. At congressional hearings, lawmakers — particularly Democrats — voiced concern over the use of Signal for military discussions and questioned its appropriateness. Several current and former military officials have indicated that the level of detail shared by Hegseth likely fell under classified material. However, the Trump administration maintains that no classified information was disclosed.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from PTI.