A long-awaited Pentagon review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report 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 approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated 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 not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source said 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 endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
