Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in question included particulars about a scheduled air attack in Yemen targeting Houthi militants. This chat was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included 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 commercially offered communication application that was not authorized for handling classified information.
Potential Threat 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 foreign enemy force.
However, the document also noted that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary's Reaction
The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.
In his statement, Hegseth asserted he only shared information that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the mission. He further stated that he possessed the authority to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released later this week.
