A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials 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 internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. 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 unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
