A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
