A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included 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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
