A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
