A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included 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 officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
