A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report 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 authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
