A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
