Pentagon Investigation Concludes Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Danger with Messaging App Conversation.

A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.

Details of the Event

The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added 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 focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.

Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.

Potential Threat to Forces

The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.

Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.

Secretary's Response

The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.

In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.

Next Steps

The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.