A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
