A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
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 disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
