A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
