A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information 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.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
