A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
