A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
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 foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
