A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
