A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details 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 reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual 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 shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
