A highly anticipated Pentagon review 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.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
