A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group 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 classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
