A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other officials in the chat 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 participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be made public later this week.
