A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals 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 commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
