A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. 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 shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
