A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, 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 targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly 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 are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information 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 partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
