A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly 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 officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation 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 report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information 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 inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, 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 inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
