A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
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 information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
