A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor 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 commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined 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.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
