A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
