A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed 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 focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
