Pentagon did not conduct routine investigation on whether Hegseth damaged national security by sharing strike plans [View all]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Dec 11, 2025, 4:00 AM ET


The Pentagon did not conduct a routine investigation into the impact of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s disclosure of sensitive military information in a group chat on Signal earlier this year and whether it damaged national security – in part because Hegseth never authorized it, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

A classification review and damage assessment would typically be initiated following any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive defense information, in part, to examine whether sources and methods or ongoing US military and intelligence operations have been compromised in a way that would require mitigation.

Hegseth did not order an assessment, two former senior officials who were working at the Pentagon at the time and a current US official with knowledge of the situation said.

After the Signal messages came to light, Hegseth, instead turned his attention inward and focused on formally investigating suspected leakers on his own staff, even threatening to polygraph defense officials he believed were disclosing potentially embarrassing details about him, multiple current and former officials said. Those threats had a “chilling effect” among DoD officials who became increasingly wary of doing anything that could be perceived by Hegseth as an attempt to undercut him, according to those officials.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/11/politics/pentagon-did-not-conduct-hegseth-signal-investigation