A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
