A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on 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 approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, 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 downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
