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US defence secretary faces escalating scrutiny as report finds he put troops at risk
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth risked imperilling American troops by sharing information that could have been intercepted by a foreign adversary, according to a Pentagon watchdog.
Sky's US partner NBC News is reporting that the Inspector General also found that Mr Hegseth violated military regulations by using his personal phone for official business. The detail circulated in a group chat on the Signal app in March this year related to an imminent strike on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Messages reportedly posted by Mr Hegseth included: "1415: Strike drones on target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP)." Another read: "We are currently clean on OPSEC" - that's operational security, suggesting the sender recognised the sensitivity of the information. Read more:Hegseth cites 'fog of war' in defence of second 'drug boat' strikeWhy Putin won't agree to latest Ukraine peace plan A journalist from The Atlantic had been inadvertently added to the group chat and reported how the top-secret military operation had been shared both in advance and in real time.
The 'Signal-gate' scandal led to bipartisan calls for Mr Hegseth's resignation, but it was Donald Trump's national security advisor Mike Waltz, who was also in the group, who lost his job. It later emerged that Mr Hegseth had created a second Signal group, including his wife, brother and personal lawyer, and shared much of the same detail there.
The information came from an email labelled 'SECRET/NOFORN.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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