A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth'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 jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
