A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
