A long-awaited Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
