Top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet have been swept up in what has been dubbed "Signalgate" — and possible additional concerns came to light Wednesday.
On Monday, a bombshell report in The Atlantic alleged that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared secret war plans in a Signal chat that included a reporter among its membership.
Top officials in President Donald Trump's Cabinet discussed in a Signal chat classified military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe, Trump's director of national intelligence and CIA director, disputed that the information was classified during a hearing this week but maintained they couldn't discuss what was in the chat.
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German news outlet Der Spiegel reported Wednesday that not only were Trump's officials communicating via Signal, their cell phone numbers can be found online.
Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Gabbard all had their private data, passwords and cell phone numbers leaked and can be found online, the publication said.
"Most of the publicly accessible numbers and email addresses are likely still being used by those affected," the report said. "Some are linked to profiles on Instagram and LinkedIn, among others. Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track traffic data were created with them. WhatsApp profiles, and in some cases even Signal accounts, can be found for the respective phone numbers. The research therefore reveals another serious security vulnerability in Washington that was previously unknown."
The report also said that as recently as Wednesday, privately used and publicly searchable phone numbers of Gabbard and Waltz were still available online. Those numbers are linked to the Signal accounts used in "Signalgate."
Hostile intelligence agencies could use the information to hack communications sent through those devices by using spyware, The report warned.
"It is therefore conceivable that foreign agents were reading along as Gabbard, Waltz, and Hegseth discussed a military strike with others in a Signal chat," the report said through a translation.
