A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
