A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
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 considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
