A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included 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 are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
