A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat 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 do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
