A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
