DOD is investigating Hegseth's staffers over Houthi-strikes chats
June 7 (UPI) -- The Defense Department's Inspector General is investigating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's March 13 Signal chat ahead of the U.S. military's extended aerial strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The IG's office initiated the investigation weeks ago and has interviewed current and former Hegseth staffers to learn how the chat and one other that occurred on the Signal encrypted mobile messaging app included civilians, ABC News reported.
A DOD IG spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation because it is ongoing.
Signal supports encrypted group messaging chats, but at least two chats discussed the onset of U.S. military action against the Houthis that started on March 15.
The first erroneously included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, while a second Signal chat included Hegseth's wife and brother.
Hegseth in April blamed "disgruntled" former employees and media for the controversy over the Signalchat mishaps that many have dubbed "Signalgate."
"This is what media does," Hegseth told media during the annual Easter Egg Roll event at the White House on April 21.
"They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees and they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations," he said.
"We're changing the Defense Department and putting the Pentagon back in the hands of warfighters," Hegseth said. "Anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news don't matter."
The aerial attacks continued from March 15 until May 6, when President Donald Trump announced the Houthis agreed to stop attacking U.S.-flagged vessels.
The Houthis did not stop attacking Israel or commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
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