Pentagon Report Concludes Defense Secretary Placed Troops in Danger with Messaging App Conversation.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included 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 officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
