Blumenthal Statement on DOD IG Report Finding Hegseth Put American Servicemembers At Risk

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement in response to a report issued by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General which found that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s use of a commercial messaging application to share classified information put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk.

The investigation was launched following reports that numerous members of President Trump’s cabinet and national security team – including Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Marco Rubio, then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe – discussed classified military operations over Signal in a group chat that included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.

“This Pentagon watchdog report is shocking and repugnant, and yet another reason for Secretary Hegseth to resign or be fired. His deliberate noncooperation with the investigation— refusing to provide his cell phone or be interviewed— call for additional investigation and action. Any other Department of Defense employee would be fired, lose their security clearance, and would likely face prosecution for doing what Secretary Hegseth did.”

“Hegseth clearly and severely endangered American pilots by disclosing highly sensitive classified details about a bombing mission they were about to conduct just hours later against well-armed Houthi terrorists. He revealed specifics like location of targets, time over targets and more on an unsecure, unapproved device with a commercial app— his personal cell phone on Signal. His disclosures were plainly vulnerable to hacking and other surveillance by hostile adversaries, as shown by subsequent reporting in the Atlantic.”

“Hegseth’s contention that he unilaterally declassified this information fails to address the immediate serious risk he created for American military operations. This information would be immensely valuable to well-armed terrorist adversaries under imminent attack. It potentially deprived pilots of a preeminent advantage— the element of surprise.”

-30-