A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. 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 added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
