A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
