A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence 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 declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
