A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included 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 Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
