The Pentagon inspector general has widened its investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the encrypted messaging app Signal – the latest fallout from the group chat controversy following Thursday’s ouster of Mike Waltz as national security adviser.
The new probe now includes the second Signal chat Hegseth and other top administration officials were caught up in last month, which included the embattled Pentagon chief's wife and brother, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Acting Inspector General Stephen Stebbins initially said in April that the investigation would focus on Hegseth’s disclosure of classified information shared with an Atlantic reporter, and it was unclear that the probe would include an examination of the second chat, the Journal added. The expanded inquiry “increases the risks for Hegseth, who has denied posting classified information and said the controversy over his use of Signal has been fueled by leaks from opponents,” the Journal said.
The political fallout has already sidelined Waltz, who President Donald Trump said Thursday would be nominated as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio taking over as national security adviser on an interim basis.
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“The Pentagon inspector general is focused, in part, on who took information from a government system for highly classified information and put it into Hegseth’s commercial Signal app, the person familiar with the inquiry said,” according to the Journal report.
While Trump has signaled support for Hegseth, some Republicans on Capitol Hill said they would reserve their judgment for the results of the investigation.
“I think the IG investigation into the Signal is important,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told the Journal. “I will wait to see what they come up with.”
“It is clearly, to me, at best a rookie mistake, at worst really bad judgment,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said. “I’m just trying to figure out which one it was.”