A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the group allegedly included 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 Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually 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 response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. 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 provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
