A long-awaited 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.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group 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 publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
