A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat 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 do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed 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 partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
