A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike 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 reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report 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 approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
