A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief 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 Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
