Evaluation of the Secretary of Defense's Reported Use of a Commercially Available Messaging Application for Official Business

Reporting cited here

1. documented

   While serving in Trump's Cabinet, Pete Hegseth sent sensitive, nonpublic operational information about the March 15 Yemen strikes from his personal phone through Signal; the Defense Department inspector general found that this violated DoD Instruction 8170.01 and created risk to personnel and mission objectives, while recognizing Hegseth's original-classification authority and not making a finding that his transmitted summary remained classified.

   Executive summary, pp. i–ii; findings on personal device, Signal, policy compliance, and risk

   Pentagon watchdog found Hegseth used his personal phone and Signal for nonpublic strike details · Final inspector-general report issued December 2, 2025