A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
