A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled 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 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 are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated 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 publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
