Investigators probing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the commercial messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive military information are looking closely at two of his most trusted allies, according to a new report.
The Defense Department’s Inspector General’s office opened an inquiry in April into whether Hegseth violated the agency’s standards for handling classified information when he discussed plans to bomb Yemen in a Signal group chat.
Separately, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, or OSI, has been investigating information leaks that have rocked the Defense Department since the spring.
The investigations have zeroed in on two men in particular: Ricky Buria, a former military aide who has been serving as Hegseth’s unofficial chief of staff, and Tim Parlatore, Hegseth’s personal attorney and a top Defense Department adviser, sources told Politico.
On the inspector general side, investigators have asked witnesses whether Buria helped the embattled defense chief set up an unsecured internet line and bypass security protocols to access Signal, which is not approved for discussing classified information, sources told the outlet.
They also asked the witnesses to describe who was present with Hegseth on March 15, the day he shared strike information with a Signal group chat that mistakenly included a journalist from The Atlantic, and whether he personally wrote the information attributed to him in the chat.
The Air Force inquiry has also looked at Signal use at the Department of Defense as part of its investigation.
Witnesses were asked whether they had received requests to delete messages from their devices—which could violate federal records laws—and if so, whether Buria or Parlatore had been the ones making the requests, according to Politico.
The two men have become two of Hegseth’s most trusted allies since he abruptly fired three of his top aides in April and accused them of leaking information to the press. Hegseth’s former chief of staff Joe Kasper was also pushed out of the Pentagon following what insiders described as a vicious “turf war.”
Hegseth wanted to appoint Buria as his new chief of staff, but the move was blocked by the White House over Buria’s criticism of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The retired Marine is a holdover from the Biden administration and has said he wants to run for office as a Democrat.
Now, the OSI is looking into whether Buria could have been the source of the leaks, given that he sat in on sensitive meetings and had access to Hegseth’s devices, according to Politico. Investigators are also scrutinizing whether Parlatore attended meetings above his security clearance level.
Buria did not respond to Politico’s request for comment, and Parlatore declined to comment. The Air Force and the Defense Department’s Inspector General’s office also declined to comment on ongoing oversight projects. The Pentagon did not answer questions about the probes.
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has successfully reoriented the Department of Defense to put the interests of America’s Warfighters and America’s taxpayers first, and it has never been better positioned to execute on its mission than it is today,” Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell told Politico in a statement.
The Daily Beast has also reached out for comment.
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