A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
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 intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
