A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against 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 then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
