A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
