The Pentagon’s official watchdog is currently conducting an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s involvement in ‘Signalgate’. This investigation was prompted after Hegseth sent detailed attack plans to a Signal group chat of top Trump administration officials on March 15th, which also included Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. This incident led to the publication of the messages by Goldberg.
The investigation being carried out by the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General aims to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other Department of Defense (DoD) personnel complied with official policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business. Military terms and acronyms used in the Signal group chat include ‘Trigger Based’ referring to sensors used to confirm the identification of a target, ‘Strike Drones on Target’ meaning drones bombing the target, ‘Sea-based Tomahawks’ indicating cruise missiles fired from at least one submarine, ‘OPSEC’ for operational security, ‘Positive ID’ confirming a terrorist’s ID, and ‘BDA’ for a battle damage assessment after a strike.
Following the Signalgate debacle, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker and ranking member Jack Reed requested an investigation by the Pentagon’s watchdog into the matter. Despite the allegations, Hegseth has denied sending “war plans”. Important officials such as director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe have suggested that Hegseth was responsible for determining whether the information he shared in the leaked Signal chat was classified.
The controversy surrounding Hegseth’s involvement in Signalgate has raised concerns about the potential sharing of sensitive military information through non-secure messaging channels. The investigation by the Pentagon’s watchdog is crucial to understanding to what extent the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel may have violated official policies and procedures. The inadvertent inclusion of Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg in the Signal group chat led to the public disclosure of the detailed war plans shared by Hegseth.
The findings of the ongoing investigation will likely shed light on the actions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other DoD personnel in relation to the use of commercial messaging applications for official business. The involvement of high-ranking Trump administration officials in the Signalgate debacle has added to the complexity of the situation, with questions arising about the handling and potential classification of the shared information. The Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General’s evaluation will help determine the implications of the leaked Signal chat and the compliance of DoD personnel with established policies and procedures.
