Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Messaging App Conversation.
A long-awaited Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This chat came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator 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 participants do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to lawmakers. An unclassified version is expected to be released in the coming days.
