A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information 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 downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
