A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals 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 communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
