A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator 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 officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added 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 Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
