A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right 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 anticipated to be released in the coming days.
