A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
