Pentagon Report Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Danger with Messaging App Chat.
A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
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 details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
