A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly 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 messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated 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 operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
