A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information 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.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
