A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation 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 transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth'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 claimed he only disclosed 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 finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.