A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor 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 publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
