A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
