A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
