Defense Department Report Concludes Hegseth Placed Troops in Danger with Messaging App Chat.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by disclosing secret information in a private Signal group, according to a source familiar with the report.
Details of the Event
The chat group in dispute included details about a planned air attack in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This chat came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.
Other individuals in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report focused solely on the conduct of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available messaging app that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Forces
The inspector general's report found that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US service members if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force.
Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to downgrade the information he shared, though it was unclear whether he actually exercised that authority.
Hegseth's Reaction
The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview 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 possessed the authority to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be politically motivated.
Future Actions
The completed report has been provided to Congress. An unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
