A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained details 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 report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
