A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
