Defense Department Report Concludes Defense Secretary Put Military Personnel in Danger with Signal Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
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 conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to 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 distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
