A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question contained details 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 participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
