A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine 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 handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
