I almost forgot Signalgate was a thing, but alas, we’re back to this silly story that did nothing but reinforce the hatred that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has already earned within liberal circles.
Last Spring, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was somehow included in a Signal chat with JD Vance, Hegseth, then-National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and other top Trump officials, where classified war plans were reportedly leaked or discussed regarding airstrikes on Houthi terrorists. I mean, the only gripe I have is how you include a notable liberal editor in this discussion, but that’s for another time. It led to a lot of noise, some bad optics, and some people had their job titles changed, but it wasn’t some kill shot the media thought it was—they still don’t get that most of us laugh at them. But an investigation had to be conducted, and it’s supposedly done (via NBC News):
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday was given a final copy of the completed Defense Department Inspector General report that examined his sharing sensitive military information on a Signal group chat back in March, according to two people familiar with the investigation.
The much-anticipated report is expected to become public as early as this week, these people said.
The report outlines the findings of a more than eight-month investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal, an encrypted but unclassified messaging app, to share details of planned U.S. military strikes in Yemen before they had begun.
Hegseth has maintained that he shared no classified information on the group chat.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two people familiar with the inspector general investigation would not say what its conclusions are.
Given this town and the anti-Trump elements that infest the swamp, you knew someone was going to leak something. And alas, CNN has it, to the shock of no one:
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report.
The repercussions of Hegseth’s action, two sources told CNN, are less clear since the IG concluded that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify information and Hegseth asserted he made an operational decision in the moment to share that information, though there is no documentation of such a decision.
An unclassified version of the report is set to be publicly released Thursday. The classified report was sent to Congress on Tuesday night.
[…]
It remains unclear if Hegseth properly declassified that information before sharing it with other top Trump officials, and a reporter, the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the chat.
Hegseth refused to sit for an interview with the inspector general and submitted his version of events in writing, sources told CNN.
Yeah, just like Russiagate, the Epstein files, and every story involving Trump or his aides, a lot of things are going to be clarified, and not in the ways liberals would like.