A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
