Defense Department Report Finds Defense Secretary Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded 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 chat group in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
