Pentagon probes examine key Hegseth allies

Politico

a day ago

That Defense Department investigators have homed in on Buria and Parlatore also represents a possible step forward in a probe that has consumed the Pentagon for months.
The Pentagon IG probe came after reports in The Atlantic that Hegseth in March had used Signal to discuss details of military operations in Yemen with top Trump administration officials.
Questions the IG investigators have asked witnesses include, 'Who wrote the information attributed to the Secretary of Defense in The Atlantic regarding the 'Houthi PC Small Group' Signal chat?' and 'Please describe who was present with the Secretary of Defense on March 15, 2025,' the day he sent the messages, according to an email to potential witnesses ahead of interviews and obtained by POLITICO. The questions were first reported by the Associated Press .
Investigators have asked about the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the Signal app, how extensively Hegseth used it and the veracity of messages reported by The Atlantic, according to the three people and the emails.
The IG and OSI have also questioned witnesses about whether they were ever asked to delete Signal messages off their phones, according to two of the people, which could violate federal records laws , such as the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act. These may carry civil and administrative penalties. Officials can also be sentenced to jail time and forced to pay fines if they are found guilty of removing classified information or destroying government records under similar laws.
One of the people said that OSI investigators asked by name whether Buria or Parlatore made those requests.
The Pentagon did not answer questions about probes into Hegseth or his allies at the Defense Department, but it championed the Pentagon chief's resume. 'Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has successfully reoriented the Department of Defense to put the interests of America's Warfighters and America's taxpayers first, and it has never been better positioned to execute on its mission than it is today,' Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an emailed statement. 'The success speaks for itself.'
An Air Force spokesperson confirmed OSI is 'conducting an investigation into allegations of unauthorized disclosures' on behalf of Hegseth's office, but declined to comment on the specifics of the probe. One of the people with knowledge of the matter said the investigators have been talking to witnesses since late April.
The investigations have intensified questions about Hegseth's leadership in the department, one of the people familiar with the probe said. POLITICO previously reported that Hegseth was deferring to U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Erik Kurilla as planning for American military strikes against Iran ramped up last month. U.S. allies have also been caught off guard by the Pentagon's abrupt pause of some weapons shipments to Ukraine.
Hegseth's closest allies maintain that he has played a key role in the strikes, pushing NATO allies to a 5 percent defense spending target, and boosting recruiting. 'None of this would have been possible without the complete unity and discipline of the OSD team and the vision and leadership of our commander-in-chief,' Parnell said in the statement.