๐ Share this article Defense Department Report Finds Hegseth Placed Troops in Jeopardy with Messaging App Chat. A long-awaited Department of Defense report has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth breached official protocols by sharing classified information in a Signal messaging chat, according to a person briefed on the findings. Details of the Event The chat group in dispute included details about a planned airstrike in Yemen targeting Houthi fighters. This discussion was revealed after a reporter for the Atlantic was added as a member. Other individuals in the chat allegedly included Senator JD Vance, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and former security advisor Mike Waltz. The report did not examine the conduct of Hegseth, as the other officials are not employed at the Pentagon. Signal is a commercially offered communication application that was not approved for handling sensitive material. Serious Threat to Forces The inspector general's report found that the intelligence shared by Hegseth was secret and posed a risk to the safety of US troops if it had been intercepted by a foreign enemy force. Notably, the report acknowledged that Hegseth possessed the authority to declassify the material he shared, though it was unclear whether he formally exercised that authority. Secretary's Response The informed individual said that Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the investigators. Instead, he provided a short written response. In his response, Hegseth asserted he only disclosed details that would not have risked lives or compromised the mission. He added that he had the right to downgrade information and viewed the investigation to be partisan. Future Actions The completed report has been shared with Congress. An publicly releasable copy is anticipated to be released in the coming days.