A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
