A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
