Pete Hegseth cannot get enough of Signal. The defense secretary used the encrypted messaging app at least a dozen times for official Pentagon business, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. That included directing aides to inform foreign governments of unfolding military operations. Unclassified yet still sensitive information was also revealed, along with his schedule and media appearances. According to two sources, Hegseth sent texts in the app from an unsecured line in his Pentagon office, along with his personal phone. He is said to have set up many of the chats himself, though an aide, identified as Marine Col. Ricky Buria, is said to have also posted on Hegseth’s behalf. Buria, according to the Journal, is the one who posted Houthi military attack plans with a Signal group chat that included Hegseth’s wife, brother and lawyer. Both the Pentagon and Buria did not comment when approached by the Journal. Hegseth’s incessant use of Signal was first highlighted after The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a group chat with senior Trump administration officials, who chose to use Signal to discuss the Defense Department’s daily operations despite the Pentagon having its own communication network.
