A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
