A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added 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 focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
