A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
