A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added 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 anticipated to be made public later this week.
