A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, 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 inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the investigation 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.
