A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief 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 dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
