A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
