A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct 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.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
