A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
