A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions 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.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
