A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly 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 participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
