A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
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 information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
