A highly anticipated Pentagon review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies 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 dispute contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group 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 participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
