A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator 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 Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
