A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly 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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
