A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation 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 approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details 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.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public in the coming days.
