A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared 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.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
