A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included 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 conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear 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 short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
