A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
