The sharing of information by some officials in the Trump administration has been questioned after a photo that was taken at a recent cabinet meeting.
Reuters published a photo of former national security advisor Mike Waltz using an unofficial mobile app called Signal, which is designed to archive messages. The screen displayed messages from various government officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabrield, and Secretary Marco Rubio.
404 Media reported on Thursday that this photo raised questions as to whether classified data was discussed in the application and how it is secured.
The outlet reported that the photo showed Waltz getting a different verification message than what is shown in an official version.
The message on Waltz’s phone is a piece of software from a TeleMessage company, which creates clones of popular messaging apps, but adds an archiving feature to each one, 404 Media reported.
404 Media reported, “The robust end-to-end encryption of Signal, as it’s typically understood, is not maintained because the messages are retrievable later after they have been stored elsewhere. The video at one point shows copies of these messages in an account that appears to be a regular Gmail account, which could create further security risks. The video states that the Gmail account is only for the demo, and TeleMessage can be used with numerous archive platforms.”
Officials are required to archive their communications. However, archiving can pose security risks.
A Signal spokesperson for 404 Media said in an email: “We cannot guarantee privacy or security of unofficial versions of Signal.”
The photo was released on the same day that Trump announced Waltz would leave his position as national security advisor and be nominated to become U.N. Ambassador.
Waltz is under fire from critics of the administration after adding a magazine publisher to a group discussion last month on plans for military action.
Waltz’s departure as a member of Trump’s National Security Team raised questions about Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary at the Pentagon. Hegseth said last week that “informal coordinations, unclassified” were shared online in a chat with his wife, brother, and personal attorney.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Pentagon Inspector General has expanded its investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal Chat.
Many Senate Republicans, such as Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D. ), said that the Defense Secretary needs to surround himself with a stronger team.
One source told The Hill, “Hegseth was next, not because he is a jerk but because they are concerned about his management. They think his team is in a mess.”
