A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in question included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling classified information.
Serious Threat to Forces
The internal investigation found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he distributed, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Response
The source indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
