A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist 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 participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report 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 Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
