A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential 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 service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
