A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
