WASHINGTON – A Pentagon watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked the safety of American troops and their mission when he discussed a covert military operation in Yemen over the commercial messaging app Signal, but that he had the right to declassify the information, according to a person who has seen the report.

The investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general was launched after Hegseth shared plans for a U.S. attack on Houthi forces in Yemen on a Signal chat with other administration officials. The messages included the times that bombs would be dropped and were published after the fact by The Atlantic, whose editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the group chat.

Hegseth has denied that the information he texted was "war plans" and said he had the authority to declassify the messages.

If the information Hegseth shared on the chat had fallen into the hands of an adversary of the U.S., it could have put the mission and service members involved in danger, according to the internal watchdog, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The watchdog found that Hegseth's use of his personal phone violated Pentagon policy, but maintained he had the power as Defense secretary to declassify the information he shared, according to the report, as it was described to USA TODAY.

Investigators used screenshots of Hegseth's messages published by The Atlantic because he did not share more than a few of his own messages with them, according to the person. He declined investigators' requests for an interview and submitted only a written statement, saying he had the right to declassify information and the investigation by the Pentagon inspector general was not neutral, the person said.

Two redacted inspector general reports are expected to be released on Thursday, Dec. 4, that look at the March episode. One reportedly deals with Hegseth's conduct and the other assesses the Pentagon's lack of a secure messaging application that government officials can use for real-time communication.

The reports were described to multiple news outlets before their release, including CNN, POLITICO, CBS and the Associated Press, after they were shared with Congress.

The Signal chat involving Hegseth included more than a dozen U.S. officials, including former White House national security adviser Michael Waltz, who has since been moved to the United Nations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Hegseth has been under special scrutiny due to his involvement in the chat, given his commentary on the strikes before they happened. Multiple Democratic lawmakers called for his ouster at the time of the controversy.

After surviving that episode, Hegseth has come under renewed scrutiny in the past week after it was revealed the U.S. military conducted a second strike on a suspected narco-trafficking boat in the Caribbean that killed two survivors. Hegseth has denied that he issued an order to "kill everybody" and says he was not aware of the follow-up strike until later.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hegseth's Signal chats could have endangered troops, watchdog finds

Reporting by Francesca Chambers and Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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