A Department of Defense report has concluded that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth violated departmental policies by sharing secret information about a planned airstrike in Yemen via the Signal messaging app in March, a source familiar with the findings has said.
The report, by the Pentagon's inspector general, found that the information Hegseth distributed was classified and could have endangered US troops if intercepted by a foreign enemy. The chat included details of the operation against Houthi fighters and was disclosed after a reporter from The Atlantic was accidentally added to the group.
The report noted that Hegseth had the authority to declassify the information, but it was unclear whether he did so. Hegseth refused to be interviewed by the inspector general, providing only a brief written statement in which he claimed the information shared would not have risked lives or the mission, and he considered the inspector general to be partisan.
Democratic Congressman Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, called for Hegseth's resignation, stating the report showed he 'endangered the lives of American pilots' and that this was not an isolated lapse. Hegseth responded on social media, writing: 'No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed.'
The report has been shared with Congress, and an unclassified version is expected to be released later this week.
