A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application 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 secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
