A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
