A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
