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A highly anticipated Department of Defense review has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a private Signal group, as stated by a source familiar with the report.

Particulars of the Event

The chat group in dispute contained particulars about a scheduled airstrike in Yemen against Houthi militants. This discussion came to light after a journalist for the Atlantic was added as a participant.

Other officials in the chat allegedly included JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The investigation focused solely on the actions of Hegseth, as the other participants are not employed at the Pentagon.

Signal is a commercially offered messaging app that was not authorized for handling classified information.

Serious Threat to Troops

The inspector general's report determined that the intelligence circulated by Hegseth was classified and posed a risk to the lives of US troops if it had been obtained by a hostile nation.

However, the document acknowledged that Hegseth had the ability to downgrade the information he distributed, though it was not specified whether he actually exercised that authority.

Secretary's Reaction

The source indicated that Hegseth declined an interview by the investigators. Instead, he submitted a short written response.

In his statement, Hegseth claimed he only shared details that would not have endangered personnel or jeopardized the operation. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and considered the inspector general to be partisan.

Future Actions

The completed report has been provided to lawmakers. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be made public later this week.