Did Pentagon staff delete messages revealing Yemen strike details? Inspector general launches probe

The Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating whether aides to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth were asked to delete Signal messages that may have contained sensitive military information shared with a reporter, according to two sources familiar with the inquiry and documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The probe centres on how information about the March 15 airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen was disseminated via the messaging app.

Hegseth is set to testify before Congress next week for the first time since his confirmation hearing. He is expected to face questions under oath regarding his handling of sensitive information as well as broader Pentagon upheaval following the departures of several senior aides and an internal inquiry into information leaks.

Hegseth has previously been scrutinised over the installation of an unsecured internet line in his office that bypassed Pentagon security protocols, as well as reports that he shared details of the military strikes in multiple Signal group chats.

One chat included his wife and brother, while another comprised top national security officials from the Trump administration and mistakenly included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.

Beyond investigating whether anyone was instructed to delete Signal messages, the inspector general is questioning past and current staffers who were with Hegseth on the day of the strikes, focusing on who posted the information and who had access to his phone, according to the sources.

Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have expressed concern that the information Hegseth posted on Signal prior to the strikes could have endangered pilots, noting that sharing such details would likely result in termination for lower-ranking military personnel.

Hegseth maintains that none of the information shared was classified. However, multiple current and former military officials have said that sharing such detailed operational information before a strike on an unsecured device was improper.

“I said repeatedly, nobody is texting war plans,” Hegseth told Fox News in April following revelations about the chat involving his family members. “I look at war plans every day. What was shared over Signal then and now... was informal, unclassified coordination, for media and other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning.”

President Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Hegseth, stating during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery that the defence secretary “went through a lot” but is “doing really well.”

Since the Signal controversy, Hegseth has limited his public media appearances and has yet to hold a Pentagon press briefing; his spokesman has briefed reporters there only once.

The investigation was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

Signal is a publicly available encrypted messaging app, but it is vulnerable to hacking and is not approved for transmitting classified information. On March 14, one day before the airstrikes, the Defence Department warned personnel about Signal’s security risks.

Trump’s administration targeted the Houthis in response to their “unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence and terrorism,” citing their disruption of critical shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, vital for energy and cargo transport between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.

From November 2023 through January 2025, Houthi rebels launched missile and drone attacks on over 100 merchant vessels, sinking two ships and killing four sailors. The Houthis claimed these attacks were aimed at pressuring an end to the Israeli conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

By Tamilla Hasanova