A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat 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 officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
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 acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
