Ranking Member Connolly Underscores Need for Immediate Investigation into Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s Continued Use of Insecure Platforms for National Security Work
Following Reporting that Secretary Hegseth Shared War Plans in a Group Chat with His Wife, Brother, and Personal Lawyer, Ranking Member Connolly is Calling on Inspectors General to Investigate
Washington, D.C. (April 29, 2025)— Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Steven Stebbins, Acting Inspector General at the Department of Defense (DoD), and Tamara A. Johnson, Principal Deputy Inspector General at the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, underscoring the need for an immediate investigation into the Pentagon’s and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s irresponsible and continued use of insecure platforms and personal devices to share sensitive attack plans, and his disclosure of extremely sensitive national security secrets to persons unauthorized to receive such information.
Today’s letter from Ranking Member Connolly builds on his March 27th letter to Inspectors General across the federal government requesting an immediate investigation regarding Secretary Hegseth disclosure of highly sensitive, likely classified plans for military operations in Yemen via a Signal group chat which included a reporter from The Atlantic and ran afoul of several laws.
“I write to request that you immediately investigate the Pentagon’s pattern of unauthorized disclosures of classified information. According to reports on March 24, 2025; March 26, 2025; and April 20, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appears to have engaged in a pattern of recklessly using insecure communication platforms to share sensitive attack plans and disclosing highly sensitive national security information to persons unauthorized to receive such information,” wrote Ranking Member Connolly.
On April 20, 2025, The New York Times reported that Secretary Hegseth shared sensitive attack plans in a separate Signal group titled “Defense | Team Huddle” which included his wife, brother, personal lawyer, and “about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle.” Secretary Hegseth’s wife, a former Fox News producer, is not a DoD employee, and while Secretary Hegseth’s brother and personal attorney each hold jobs at the Pentagon, “it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes.”
Moreover, Secretary Hegseth is alarmingly reported to have used his private, personal mobile device to create and participate in the Signal chat. The conduct of the Trump Administration, especially that of Secretary Hegseth, clearly indicates a pattern of misusing unsecured communication platforms and devices for sensitive discussions.
“This pattern of conduct raises grave concerns about the possibility that American military and intelligence professionals may have been compromised by the reckless dissemination of such highly sensitive national security information…It is critical that your offices investigate these matters and any other incidents in which Secretary Hegseth and other senior national security leaders in the Trump Administration have, either through incompetence or neglect, compromised highly sensitive or classified national security information,” concluded Ranking Member Connolly.
Click here to read the letter to Steven Stebbins, Acting Inspector General at the Department of Defense, and Tamara A. Johnson, Principal Deputy Inspector General at the Office of the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.
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