Defense Department Investigation Finds Defense Secretary Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.

A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.

Details of the Incident

The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.

Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.

Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.

Serious Threat to Forces

The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.

However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.

Secretary's Reaction

The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.

In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.

Future Actions

The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.