A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
