A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released later this week.
