A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question contained details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other officials in the group reportedly 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 are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and considered the investigation to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be made public in the coming days.
