A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, 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 declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
