The Pentagon’s independent watchdog launched a probe Thursday into top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration who discussed a military strike using the commercial messaging app Signal.
Signalgate has roiled the White House and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth since news broke on March 24 that The Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a group chat discussing an attack on Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
The story dominated news coverage last week and appears to not be going away. The acting Deputy Inspector General Steven Stebbins wrote in a memo his team will determine whether Hegseth “complied with DoD policies and procedures” or not.
The probe will also examine whether Hegseth—and others in the Department of Defense—complied with classification and records retention requirements, Stebbins said. The review will take place in Washington and at U.S. Central Command in Tampa.
Stebbins took over as acting inspector general after Trump fired his predecessor, Robert Storch, in his first week back in the Oval Office. The official said in his memo that Hegseth will likely have to hand over materials to investigators for review.
Top Democrats of the Senate Armed Services Committee have called for Stebbins to launch a probe since last week, claiming Hegseth shared information about military action through a channel that was may not have been approved for such discussions.
The White House, meanwhile, said Monday it considers the scandal to be “case closed” with no Trump officials fired or pressured to resign. Both Hegseth and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, who added Goldberg to the chat, have faced calls from Democrats to voluntarily depart or be forced out of their positions.
“As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “This case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned.”
Waltz will not be part of Stebbins’ probe because he does not work within the Department of Defense. It is unclear what sort of consequences, if any, Hegseth might face if he is found to have broken department procedures.
Republicans have tried to downplay the issue, alleging Goldberg sensationalized what he saw in the chat and that none of the texts sent—even those with intricate details about a U.S. military strike’s target and timing—included classified information.
Speaker Mike Johnson conceded the Signal chat was a “mistake” but claimed the incident had been “overblown” by the media.
“I think this is a mistake,” he said. “It was acknowledged as such. I’m certain it will not happen again. We move forward.”
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, struck a similar tone last week and said “it’s time to move on” from the scandal.
“The facts are not going to change,” he said. “I don’t know that there are any more that could be revealed.”
Democrats have demanded there be accountability for the gaffe, which, to the public eye, has not led to any official repercussions for those involved.
