A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
