A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included 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 officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
