A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator 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 communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
