A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, 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.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
