Pentagon Investigation Concludes Defense Secretary Put Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Messaging App Conversation.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
