Defense Department Report Concludes Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Signal Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals 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 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 determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to 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 downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.