A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
