Defense Department Investigation Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Signal Chat.

A long-awaited Pentagon review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.

Particulars of the Event

The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.

Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct 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 classified information.

Serious Risk to Troops

The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.

However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.

Hegseth's Response

The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.

In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.

Next Steps

The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.