A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
