A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions 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 transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
