Pentagon Report Concludes Defense Secretary Put Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Conversation.
A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials 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 participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
