A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation 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 document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
