A highly anticipated Pentagon report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
