A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
