Watchdog looking into possibility of aide deletions in Hegseth Signal probe

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to testify before Congress next week for the first time since his confirmation hearing (Virginia Mayo/AP/PA)

The Pentagon watchdog is looking into whether any of defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s aides was asked to delete Signal messages that may have shared sensitive military information with a reporter, according to two people familiar with the investigation and documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The inspector general’s request focuses on how information about the March 15 air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen was shared on the messaging app.