A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
