A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Particulars of the Incident
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual 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 shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is expected to be released in the coming days.
