A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
