A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
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 obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
