Defense Department Investigation Finds Defense Secretary Put Military Personnel in Danger with Signal Chat.
A long-awaited Pentagon report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct 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 shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
