Defense Department Investigation Finds Hegseth Placed Military Personnel in Jeopardy with Signal Conversation.
A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has concluded that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth violated official protocols by sharing classified intelligence in a private Signal group, according to a person briefed on the findings.
Details of the Incident
The chat group in dispute contained details about a planned airstrike in Yemen against Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a member.
Other officials in the group allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants do not work at the Department of Defense.
Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not authorized for handling sensitive material.
Potential Risk to Troops
The internal investigation found that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the safety of US service members if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.
However, the report also noted that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the material he distributed, though it was not specified whether he formally did so.
Secretary'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 asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added 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 made public later this week.