A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
