A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
