A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack 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 JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
