A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly 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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated 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 publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
