A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, 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 informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
