A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
