A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly 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 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 Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
