Adviser to Hegseth Says Watchdog Report Over ‘Signalgate’ Clears Him

Parlatore said the watchdog’s report does not conclude that Hegseth shared classified information, but he noted that it includes new findings related to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the broader use of the Signal messaging app during the Biden administration.

“That’s actually another big part of this report — is it talks about how the use of Signal, it’s not a Pete Hegseth issue, it’s not a Trump administration issue, it’s a whole-of-government issue,” Parlatore said. “The use of Signal has proliferated ever since 2020.”

Parlatore added: “This report actually notes that the former secretary, Lloyd Austin, actually used to bring his personal cell phone into the office, into the SCIF, in violation of the law. And that was something that was passed down to Secretary Hegseth when he took over, and he said, ‘well, I’m not going to do that,’ and he wanted to do it a different way because he wanted to comply with the law.”

Parlatore stated on Wednesday that when Hegseth learned about Austin’s alleged cell phone practices, he expressed a desire not to follow the same path.

He went on to say that Hegseth tasked his Pentagon team with finding him a secure way to use the app while in a secure setting that also complied with the law.