A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist 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 report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.
