A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
