A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the group reportedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he had the right to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
