A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
