A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
