A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor 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 authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
