Secretary Hegseth’s Curious Definition of ‘Total Exoneration’

From the unclassified version of the Department of Defense* Inspector General’s report, investigating Secretary of . . . (sigh) War Pete Hegseth using Signal to discuss upcoming strikes on Houthi targets:

The Secretary sent information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately 2 to 4 hours before the execution of those strikes. Although the Secretary wrote in his July 25 statement to the DoD OIG that “there were no details that would endanger our troops or the mission,” if this information had fallen into the hands of U.S. adversaries, Houthi forces might have been able to counter U.S. forces or reposition personnel and assets to avoid planned U.S. strikes. Even though these events did not ultimately occur, the Secretary’s actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots. (S//NF) Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information.

Also:

Because the Secretary indicated that he used the Signal application on his personal cell phone to send nonpublic DoD information, we concluded that the Secretary’s actions did not comply with DoD Instruction 8170.01, which prohibits using a personal device for official business and using a nonapproved commercially available messaging application to send nonpublic DoD information.

And:

The Secretary’s transmission of nonpublic operational information over Signal to an uncleared journalist and others 2 to 4 hours before planned strikes using his personal cell phone exposed sensitive DoD information. Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives.

Last night, before the release of the unclassified version, Secretary Hegseth characterized the IG report as a “total exoneration” of himself and his actions:

The secretary has an unusual definition of “total exoneration.” If you didn’t know any better, you would think that the secretary wanted to get the narrative of his “total exoneration” out into the news cycle and spreading before the actual report came out, so that when the report’s criticisms came to light, his fanbase could dismiss it as “fake news.”

The IG report also noted that Hegseth declined to be interviewed for the investigation.

*The report cover identifies it as the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Defense, not war, and there are numerous references to “DOD” in the report, not “DOW.”