Pentagon Investigation Concludes Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Danger with Signal Conversation.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.