Pentagon Investigation Finds Defense Secretary Placed Military Personnel in Danger with Signal Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator 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 do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
