A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
