A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
