A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret 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 had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
