A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly 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 officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
