A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included 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 publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
