A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel 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 provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
