A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
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 claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
