A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
