A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
