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- Pete Hegseth had a "unique" system installed to access his personal cell phone from inside his secure office, an investigation found.
- It's unclear if the defense secretary's setup violated Pentagon policy.
- The findings were part of the inspector general's report on Hegseth's use of Signal to share information on strikes.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had his assistant install a "unique" system in his secure office at the Pentagon that allowed him to access and control his personal cellphone from inside, a new watchdog report says.
The findings are part of Pentagon Inspector General Steven Stebbins' investigation into Hegseth's use of the Signal app to share sensitive information about US airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this year. The investigation concluded the secretary risked the safety of US military personnel.
The report, released Thursday, included a section stating that Hegseth's junior military assistant, at the request of the secretary of defense, "requested and oversaw the installation of a unique capability through which the secretary could access and control his personal cell phone from inside his secure office."
The tether system, for which photos of a prototype design were redacted in the report, was installed in late February 2025.
The system mirrored and accessed the content of the personal phone and connected a keyboard, mouse, and monitor via cable to the phone, which was located outside the office.
Within the Pentagon, especially for the officers of more senior officials, it's not uncommon to find lockers or boxes for staff and visitors to store phones and other devices.
Department of Defense policy states that personal and government mobile devices, such as cellphones, are prohibited from secure spaces in the Pentagon, places like Hegseth's office. The inspector general's report concluded it could not be determined whether the unique system installed for the secretary met requirements because it was quietly removed by late April 2025.
Hegseth confirmed in a July statement to the Pentagon inspector general's office that he requested the system.
"It is true that upon taking this job, I asked my comms team whether it was possible to get access to my personal cell phone in my office," he said, explaining that aim was to "more easily receive non-official, communications during the workday."
"The comms team," the secretary said, "prepared a compliant solution that would allow me this access while also maintaining proper security."
The Secretary of Defense Communications Team said the installed workaround was consistent with DoD information security requirements, as it didn't physically violate the no-cellphones-in-a-secure-space rule, the investigation said.
The Pentagon didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the findings.
Stebbins' investigation into Hegseth's use of Signal for the Yemen strikes was launched after The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to group chats where Hegseth shared sensitive information, classified details from a SECRET/NOFORN email, about the timing of the attacks and assets that would be used to execute them.
The inspector general concluded that Hegseth’s use of the messaging app put US forces at risk because, if the information had been intercepted by US adversaries, it could have endangered US military personnel.
While the secretary said in an earlier statement to the office that "there were no details that would endanger our troops or the mission," the investigation concluded that "the secretary's actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed US mission objectives and potential harm to US pilots."