A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
