Pentagon Report Concludes Hegseth Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.