A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation 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 authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
