A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation 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 authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
