A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
