Pentagon Report Concludes Defense Secretary Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Signal Chat.
A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials 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 officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, 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 politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
