A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
