Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing growing trouble as the Pentagon’s inspector general expands an investigation into his use of the encrypted app Signal—not just with top officials, but in a second private chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins is now digging into this second group chat, which raises fresh concerns about whether classified military information may have been shared outside of secure government systems.
Stebbins had already launched a probe last month into a separate Signal group Hegseth used with senior officials. That chat came to light after then–National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the thread—exposing the conversation and triggering alarm inside the Pentagon.
Now, investigators are looking at who may have taken classified information and moved it into Hegseth’s personal Signal chats. According to WSJ, Stebbins is especially focused on “who took information from a government system for highly-classified information and put it into Hegseth’s commercial Signal app.”
Hegseth has denied ever using Signal to share classified material. But with the investigation widening to include his family and lawyer, the pressure is mounting. A congressional aide told WSJ the second chat is now a formal part of the inquiry.
This latest move signals real trouble for Hegseth, as questions mount about how sensitive military information may have ended up in unsecured, private chats. If it’s confirmed that secure military data was exposed, the fallout could be severe—not just for Hegseth, but for anyone involved in leaking or mishandling protected information.
