A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
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 actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
