Pentagon Report Finds Defense Secretary Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Signal Conversation.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
