A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
