A long-awaited Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by disclosing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, as stated by a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Event
The online conversation in dispute contained particulars about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat was revealed after a journalist for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for transmitting classified information.
Serious Risk to Forces
The internal investigation determined that the information circulated by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the lives of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually did so.
Hegseth's Reaction
The source said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the operation. He further stated that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Future Actions
The finalized investigation has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is anticipated to be made public later this week.
