A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, 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 targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
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 classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary'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 added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
