A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
