Recent investigations expose media personality and former Trump administration official Pete Hegseth as one of the instigators behind the creation of a private group chat on Signal. This chat touched on some critical military intelligence. Participants in the chat included Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, his brother, Phil and about a dozen other people. This led to widespread alarm surrounding the security protocols.
In this private group, Hegseth went on to discuss classified plans for U.S. military strikes in Yemen. You were under the misconception that you could just look at flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornets. Concerns the potential dangers of disclosing sensitive and personally identifiable information in an unsecured platform. Those reports verify that Hegseth did indeed log on to this Signal secret chat with his personal cell phone.
That wasn’t the only time Hegseth amplified the confusion by leaking sensitive information to another Signal group. This coalition, convened by newly-elected Waltz, was limited to just 13 members. Among the signatories of this second round were two of Hegseth’s top political appointees, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick. Both advisers were recently ousted for leaking classified information without authorization, adding to an alarming trend of security missteps.
The existence of Hegseth’s private Signal group chat was confirmed by The Guardian, while the public disclosure of Waltz’s group emerged from Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. These revelations shed light on the nature of the discussions Signal was being used for. This last part especially pertains to operational plans under the conduct of the war on Ukraine.
Former Defense spokesman John Ullyot said it made for a hectic scene at the Pentagon. … It’s been a month of utter disorder at the Pentagon … leaks of sensitive operational plans and firing of senior leaders en masse have sown discord that undermines our commander in chief, who should expect better from his most senior leadership.”
The national security implications of allowing the sharing of military strategy in open, unencrypted chats should alarm everyone concerning the information security practices taking place within government’s ranks. Investigations into the leaks and their potential impact on national security are still underway. Further, the use of communication tools that prevent officials from being accountable will face much sharper scrutiny.