A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
