On Thursday, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Defense announced it would begin an inquiry into the usage of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s signal and discuss a potential strike plan against the Houthi Rebels.
The OIG stated it is responding to inquiries from the Senate Armed Services Committee and will assess whether Hegseth has adhered to DOD protocols regarding the use of “commercial messaging applications for official purposes.” As stated in the OIG memo released on Thursday, Hegseth was an active participant in the “Houthi PC Small Group” chat, which became public after national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly included Atlantic Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg in the group.
“We will also ensure adherence to classification and recordkeeping rules,” the memo indicates. “As the review continues, we may adjust our objectives.” (Related: Atlantic releases signal chat “War Plan” after the Trump administration denied their existence)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses will speak on March 28, 2025, when he visited Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Goldberg initially reported the story on March 24, which explained how he was inadvertently added to a signal chat by Waltz and included a screenshot of the text conversation. Other Trump administration members included in the chat were Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance.
The White House stated that “war planning” was not discussed in the text chain, while Goldberg urged on March 26 to release a follow-up piece featuring details of earlier information. Officials deliberated plans to bomb the Houthis, specifying the timeline concerning the strikes that Hegseth would oversee.
Goldberg noted that the discussions in the chat aligned with orders for a strike during the surgery.
To clarify, The Atlantic has published so-called “war plans,” which reveal: There are no targets. There are no locations. No units. No routes. No strategies. No classified information.
This is poorly constructed war planning.
This serves merely to demonstrate…
– Pete Hegseth (@petehegseth) March 26, 2025
The consequences of the incident reportedly led certain government officials to seek the dismissal of Waltz, while Trump, when questioned about it on March 25, defended his national security adviser, calling him a “good man” who “has learned his lessons.”
Waltz denied having Goldberg’s contact number in a Fox News interview on March 25.
Moreover, US District Judge James Boasberg, appointed by former President Barack Obama, instructed the Trump administration to retain records from the text conversation.
The Pentagon has not responded to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Editor’s Note: This story has been modified with updated information.
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