A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light 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 then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted 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 investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
