A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
