A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
