A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
