A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added 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 actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified 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 distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
