A highly anticipated Pentagon report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
