A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question 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 member.
Other officials in the chat 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 do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
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 foreign enemy force.
Notably, 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 Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
