Pentagon Investigation Finds Defense Secretary Put Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
