Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is doing a bit of a victory lap this week after a Pentagon investigation into his use of messaging apps. The former Fox News host declared "total exoneration" following an Inspector General review that found he shared sensitive information about Yemen strikes via Signal, but the story is considerably more complicated than that celebration suggests.

What the Pentagon Review Actually Found

According to Reuters, citing two people familiar with the document, the Pentagon Inspector General review discovered that Hegseth transmitted details of planned U.S. military strikes in Yemen through his personal Signal app. The concern? If those messages were intercepted, they could have potentially put American troops at risk.

Signal operates as an encrypted messaging platform, similar to Meta Platforms Inc.'s (META) WhatsApp.

Here's where things get legally interesting: The IG report acknowledged that Hegseth, in his role as defense secretary, actually has the authority to determine what information counts as classified. Because of that authority, the review didn't reach a conclusion about whether he broke any classification rules.

The Pentagon hasn't released the full report publicly yet, though officials expect it to drop later this week. In a statement, the Pentagon said the review cleared the defense secretary.

Democrats Call It a Pattern of Recklessness

Not everyone's buying the "exoneration" narrative. Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) didn't mince words, calling the findings "a damning review of an incompetent secretary of defense who is profoundly incapable of the job."

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-V.A.) went further, arguing the review revealed "a broader pattern of recklessness and poor judgment." Warner noted that Hegseth used multiple Signal chats for conducting official business.

Hegseth pushed back hard on X, posting: "No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed."

The controversy traces back to March, when The Atlantic published screenshots of Hegseth's messages. Those messages included a discussion about a planned strike on a Houthi leader that occurred just two hours before the actual operation, highlighting exactly how sensitive the shared information was.

Another Controversy in the Mix

This review comes on the heels of another disputed claim from Friday, when Hegseth denied reports that he authorized killing everyone on targeted vessels in the Caribbean. According to those reports, Hegseth allegedly told defense officials to "kill everybody" on a vessel spotted in the Caribbean on September 2, triggering a series of missile strikes during the Trump administration.

The question hanging over all of this isn't really whether Hegseth technically had the authority to do what he did. It's whether sharing operational strike details via messaging apps on personal devices represents the kind of judgment we want from the person running the Defense Department.