A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview 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 compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
