A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
