A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
