A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added 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 conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
