A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
