A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
