A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
