A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
