A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
