A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator 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 messaging app that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.
