A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
