1:57Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell addresses the media during a press conference at the Pentagon on March 17, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.Alex Wong/Getty Images
A senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is criticizing independent auditors at the Pentagon for their ongoing investigation into the secretary’s use of the Signal messaging app, labeling the inquiry as “a political witch hunt” and a “farce.”
Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s primary spokesperson, implies that the defense secretary is gearing up to contest the forthcoming conclusions by the Defense Department Office of the Inspector General, which are anticipated to be released shortly.
Parnell’s choice of the word “farce” to characterize the IG’s efforts also raises concerns regarding the future of the independent oversight office under President Donald Trump.
In his initial week in office, Trump dismissed the Pentagon’s then-inspector general, Robert Storch, alongside more than a dozen other agency IGs. With Storch removed by Trump, the review is being conducted by acting Inspector General Steve Stebbins, who has spent a significant portion of his career in the Army before transitioning to a career in civil service.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon on March 17, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia.Alex Wong/Getty Images
Mollie Halpern, a representative for the IG office, chose not to provide comment.
“In accordance with the longstanding policy of the DoD OIG, we refrain from commenting on ongoing oversight projects,” Halpern stated in an email.
In his statement distributed to the press on Tuesday evening, Parnell remarked that the IG assessment “is unequivocally a political witch hunt” orchestrated by “Biden administration holdovers.”
"The Secretary has submitted a statement to the IG — which highlights why this entire endeavor is a farce, undertaken in bad faith and with pronounced bias," he continued.
Parnell initially conveyed his statement to The New York Times, which first reported on Tuesday that Hegseth now mandates that general officers nominated for a fourth star meet with Trump prior to their nominations being finalized. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that this new procedure is now in effect.
Anna Kelly, a spokesperson from the White House, stated that Trump "aims to ensure our military remains the most formidable and lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets directly with four-star-general nominees to confirm they are war fighters first — not bureaucrats."
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during a meeting with the Defense Ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, at the Pentagon in Washington, July 25, 2025.Cliff Owen/AP
The IG is examining whether Hegseth breached Pentagon regulations last March when he utilized the commercial messaging app Signal to communicate details regarding a military operation in Yemen.
According to text messages disclosed by The Atlantic, which the White House has verified as genuine, Hegseth elaborated in an unclassified chat group with other officials on how a strike would proceed and when, including the deployment of F-18 fighter jets and Tomahawk missiles.
"THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP," Hegseth indicated at one point regarding Yemen, noting the military time of 1415 (2:15 p.m.) ahead of the strike on March 15.
Hegseth also communicated details about the impending attack in a second group chat that included his spouse, brother, and personal attorney, according to two sources familiar with the chat’s content who spoke to ABC News. Sources indicate that the details regarding the strike originated from a classified document, and questions being raised by the IG include whether Hegseth personally authored the
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
