A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat 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 commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
