Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Put Troops in Danger with Signal Conversation.
A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
