A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
