Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Put Troops in Danger with Signal Chat.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Particulars of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor 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 commercially offered messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a hostile nation.
However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The informed individual 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 endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Next Steps
The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.
