A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Event
The online conversation in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
