Defense Department Investigation Finds Hegseth Placed Troops in Danger with Messaging App Chat.
A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly 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 publicly available messaging app that was not approved for transmitting classified information.
Potential Threat to Troops
The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.
Secretary's Response
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have endangered personnel or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to declassify material and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.