Pentagon Review Faults Hegseth for Sharing Sensitive Yemen Strike Details. The Pentagon's watchdog has flagged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for sharing sensitive details about planned U.S. strikes in Yemen through Signal on his personal phone, a move investigators say could've put troops at risk if the chat had been intercepted. Even though the report acknowledges that Hegseth has the authority to decide what's classified, it also says the information he received from the military was classified at the time. The Pentagon publicly insisted he was cleared, and Hegseth doubled down online, calling it "total exoneration”. But critics aren't buying it. Leading Democrats argue the findings show he lacks the judgment needed to oversee U.S. forces, especially as he already faces legal scrutiny over deadly anti-drug strikes in the Caribbean. Lawmakers warn the incident is part of a broader pattern of reckless behavior — and that this wasn't the only time he used Signal for official business.