Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly had the messaging app Signal set up on several Pentagon office computers in an effort to get around a ban on personal phones.
According to the Washington Post, which cited three unnamed sources “familiar with the matter,” Hegseth directed the installation of Signal on his computer following “a discussion among Hegseth and his aides about how they could circumvent the lack of cellphone service in much of the Pentagon,” as well as a personal phone ban in certain areas, to “more quickly coordinate with the White House and other top Trump officials using the encrypted app.”
A spokesman for Hegseth denied the claims, telling the Washington Post that the secretary of defense had “never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer.”
Two unnamed sources also told the Washington Post that Hegseth also had Signal installed on a second office computer.
The New York Times also spoke to several unnamed sources who made the same claims about Hegseth’s use of Signal in the Pentagon.
“Hegseth had the consumer messaging app Signal set up on a computer in his office at the Pentagon so that he could send and receive instant messages in a space where personal cellphones are not permitted,” reported the Times, which added that the secretary of defense “has two computers in his office, one for personal use and one that is government-issued.”
A source also told the Times that Hegseth “had cables installed in early March so that he could connect a private computer to Signal.”
