A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator 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 do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material 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 later this week.
