A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
