A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
