An update on the Trump “war plan group chat” has uncovered the alarming scope of the government’s security breach.
Last month, White House officials accidentally added a journalist to a non-secure group chat discussing a planned attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, revealed that he was mistakenly included in a Signal message group that contained several of Donald Trump’s top officials.
Goldberg stated that he saw classified military plans, “including details about targets and the weapons the U.S. would be deploying,” just two hours before the bombs were dropped.
A legal complaint filed by the government watchdog group American Oversight alleges that several senior officials “failed to meet their obligations under the Federal Records Act” regarding the group chat discussions of military operations between March 11 and March 15.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been facing some heat for the blunder (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
It has now been revealed that Hegseth used an unreliable internet connection from his Pentagon office to bypass government security protocols and set up the messaging app on a personal computer, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to AP.
Known as a “dirty line” by IT professionals, this route is used to access websites that the Pentagon’s secure lines block for security reasons.
Defense Department computers can connect online through two systems: SiprNet, a secure network for classified information, and NiprNet, which handles non-classified information.
If Hegseth was indeed trying to evade Pentagon security filters, sensitive data could have been easily exposed, leaving it vulnerable to cyberattacks or surveillance.
The Trump administration has said classified information has not been shared across the messaging platform, with Trump turning to point fingers at Signal for being ‘defective’ (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As a result, electronic devices are generally prohibited inside the defense secretary’s office. However, sources told the news outlet that at times, there were reportedly three computers on Hegseth’s desk: a personal one, one for classified information, and a third for sensitive defense data.
This comes after The Washington Post reported that the former Fox weekend anchor had authorized the installation of Signal on a computer in his Pentagon office and had been using it to share military information with family and friends.
Hegseth has also been accused of using another group chat to communicate with Cabinet officials about other military plans, which was also leaked.
As initially reported by The New York Times, more than a dozen people were reportedly included in the second chat, among them Hegseth’s lawyer, wife, and brother.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, issued a statement saying, “We can confirm that the secretary has never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer.”
It is alleged he created two different chats to share military information (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In a statement obtained by CNN, Ullyot said, “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction has become a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also commented last month, calling it “one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I’ve read about in a very, very long time.”
Schumer urged Trump to fire Hegseth, stating he had “put lives at risk.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, stated that his committee planned to investigate the incident.
“It’s definitely a concern,” he added. “It appears that mistakes were made.”
