A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief 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 contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
