A highly anticipated Pentagon review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols 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 question contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged 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 source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority 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 expected to be released in the coming days.