A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
