A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority 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 made public in the coming days.
