A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
