A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. 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 mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
