Pentagon Report Concludes Defense Secretary Put Troops in Danger with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on 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 handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel 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 lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
