A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
