Pentagon Report Finds Defense Secretary Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Signal Conversation.

A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.

Details of the Incident

The online conversation in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.

Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator 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 communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.

Potential Threat to Forces

The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.

Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.

Secretary's Response

The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.

In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.