A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
