'Difficult to defend': Pete Hegseth buried over new revelations of his 'dirty line'

Yet another shoe has dropped in the "Signalgate" scandal engulfing the Pentagon, as a new report from ABC News reveals Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used an unsecured commercial internet connection on a personal computer — a so-called "dirty line" — to communicate via Signal in his Pentagon office.

"A 'dirty line' is the nickname given to a commercial internet line that is used to connect to websites that would not be available on the Pentagon's unclassified (NIPR) or classified (SIPR) lines," said the report. This line, set up at Hegseth's personal request to allow for the use of Signal, "does not have any of the firewall protections that the Defense Department's unclassified system has, so that makes it potentially susceptible to being monitored particularly if sensitive information is being communicated."

This follows revelations that Hegseth repeatedly shared active military attack plans against Houthi terrorists in Yemen in group chats on Signal, including with a journalist for the Atlantic, and his wife and brother.

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The immediate reaction from the Trump administration was to deny everything. "This is complete & total fake news," posted Hegseth's public affairs assistant secretary Sean Parnell.

But few appeared to find the denial credible.

"For those who criticized Hillary Clinton’s email server, this may be increasingly difficult to defend..." wrote Washington Post White House bureau chief Matt Viser.

Jeff Timmer of the Lincoln Project swiftly replied, "As if they’re gonna let a little thing like hypocrisy matter."

"Pour me another double thx," wrote anti-Trump conservative attorney George Conway, who added facetiously, "I bet it was an AOL dial-up connection."