A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group 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 officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
