A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
