A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added 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 investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
