A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a Signal messaging chat, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.
Potential Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the information circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
