A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
