A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
