Pentagon Investigation Finds Hegseth Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives 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 material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
