A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
