A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
