Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Danger with Signal Chat.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense report has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by disclosing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group reportedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon.
Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The inspector general's report found that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and could have endangered the safety of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, 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.
Hegseth's Response
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a brief written statement.
In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the investigation to be partisan.
Next Steps
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
