A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority 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 made public in the coming days.
