A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
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 officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
