A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
