A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety 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 actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. 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 mission. 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 shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released later this week.
