A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
