Pentagon watchdog investigates if staffers were asked to delete Hegseth’s Signal messages

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 airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen was shared on the messaging app.

This comes as Hegseth is scheduled to testify before Congress next week for the first time since his…