Pentagon Report Concludes Defense Secretary Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Signal Conversation.

A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.

Particulars of the Event

The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.

Other officials in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor 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 handling classified information.

Serious Risk to Forces

The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.

However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.

Hegseth's Response

The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.

In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.

Future Actions

The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.