A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included 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 do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary'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 details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
