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Dem Narrative Collapses As Official IG Report on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Is Released

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  December 04, 2025 1:05 PM

Yesterday, we got a glimpse of the Inspector General's (IG) report on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and "Signalgate," the spring snafu where an editor from The Atlantic was included in a Signal group chat about planned strikes on Houthi terrorists in the Middle East. 

Democrats have been gunning for Hegseth ever since President Trump nominated him for the Cabinet position. They attacked his drinking, his marriages, and for the first three months of the second Trump administration, Hegseth was the only Cabinet member to receive 100 percent negative coverage in the media.

Over the last week or so, Democrats have been attacking Hegseth over strikes on narco-terrorist boats in the Caribbean, calling the strikes "war crimes" and making up stories about Hegseth ordering a "double tap" on survivors of the first airstrikes back in September. The Washington Post ran that fabricated story, which was quickly sunk by The New York Times and a video that showed the "fishermen" on the boat trying to communicate for help and save the drugs.

Democrats were really hoping the IG Report would finally be the nail in coffin of Hegseth's Cabinet appointment. Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13) even announced articles of impeachment, which will gain no traction in the House.

While the early leaks of the report exonerated Secretary Hegseth wanted to wait for the official report to drop before we called the matter settled. Yesterday, Assistant to the Secretary of War, Sean Parnell, told Breanna Morello, "He's completely cleared. No classified information, didn't break the law!" 

Hegseth himself said the same in a post on X.

Now, we've got the official IG report and, yes, Hegseth is cleared, even though the spin will be that Hegseth "risked putting troops in danger."

Here's more from Politico:

The Pentagon inspector general has released an 84-page report on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to discuss sensitive military strikes in Yemen earlier this year.

The report found Hesgeth’s actions risked putting troops in danger, although said he did not violate the government’s classified information rules.

There's an inherent risk in any military action. The assertion was not that Hegseth put troops at risk, it was that he shared classified information in the Signal chat. The report says he did not.

And as Department of War Assistant Press Secretary Jacob Bliss pointed out, the "flawless execution" of numerous operations shows Hegseth never put a servicemember at risk.

The entire report can be read here.