A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion 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 focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
