A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
