A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included 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 actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
