A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
