A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals 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 commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
