A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly 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 participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
