Defense Department Report Concludes Defense Secretary Put Troops in Danger with Messaging App Chat.

A long-awaited Department of Defense review has concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached departmental policies by sharing secret intelligence in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings.

Details of the Event

The chat group in question contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was included as a participant.

Other officials in the group allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. The investigation did not examine the actions of Hegseth, as the other officials do not work at the Pentagon.

Signal is a publicly available communication application that was not approved for transmitting sensitive material.

Potential Risk to Forces

The inspector general's report determined that the information shared by Hegseth was classified and could have endangered the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a foreign enemy force.

However, the document also noted that Hegseth had the ability to declassify the information he distributed, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority.

Hegseth's Reaction

The informed individual indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the inspector general. Instead, he provided a short written response.

In his response, Hegseth claimed he only disclosed information that would not have risked lives or jeopardized the operation. He added that he possessed the authority to declassify material and viewed the inspector general to be politically motivated.

Next Steps

The finalized investigation has been shared with lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public in the coming days.