A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, 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 politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
