A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
