A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
