A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing classified intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute included details about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be made public later this week.
