A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly 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 do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. 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 operation. He added that he had the right 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 later this week.
