A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared 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 had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
