A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated 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 also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
