A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
