War Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested he would use Signal again to discuss military operations, even after a recently-released report from the War Department‘s inspector general found that his use of the messaging app in March violated department policy and could have endangered service members if the information fell into the wrong hands.
Earlier this week, the War Department Office of Inspector General released its report on Signalgate, when Hegseth shared details about impending U.S. strikes on the Yemeni Houthis in a Signal group chat that included multiple other Cabinet members and one journalist, who was mistakenly added to it. The report concluded that while Hegseth can declassify any intelligence he wants, he nonetheless violated department policy by sending “sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone.”
Hegseth was asked about the report on Saturday when he gave remarks at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, specifically if he would use Signal again “before combat operations.”
“I don’t live with any regrets, not a healthy way to live. And I know exactly where my compass is on these troops,” Hegseth responded, before dismissing the Signalgate controversy entirely as “silly news stories peddled for months.”
The war secretary’s remarks align with his insistence throughout the eight-month investigation of Signalgate that he did not share any classified information on the messaging app.
OFFICIAL SIGNALGATE REVIEW IS MIXED BAG FOR HEGSETH
After the inspector report dropped on Thursday, the Pentagon said it is a “TOTAL exoneration” of Hegseth.
“The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along — no classified information was shared. This matter is resolved, and the case is closed,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the Washington Examiner at the time.
, 2025-12-07 00:02:00, 
, Washington Examiner, %%https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon.png?w=32, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, Zach LaChance
