A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
