A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat 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 Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
