A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly 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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
