Desperate to oust Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the establishment press has once more dropped a Signal-related hit piece on him.
The “continued bulls–t,” as former Trump administration official Jason Miller put it, comes this time courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
Continued bullshit from the @WSJ!
1) No classified information was improperly communicated. Ever.
2) @SecDef never had Signal in his office.
3) Biden Admin. used Signal religiously.
4) Verizon + AT&T got hacked by . I trust Signal more! https://t.co/TEDzNXg0gb
— Jason Miller (@JasonMiller) May 6, 2025
The Journal reported on Monday that Hegseth uses the encrypted communication app Signal “more extensively for official Pentagon business than previously disclosed.”
The New York Times previously reported that Signal “is widely regarded as the most secure messaging app on the market.”
The Journal went on to note that, according to its vast array of anonymous sources within the Defense Department, Hegeseth prefers using Signal to run the department versus “the Pentagon’s vast [Internal] communications network.”
The problem with this, the paper alleged, is that the Pentagon boasts “spotty” “phone service,” though it’s not clear if this means WiFi, cellular, or both.
“To read the messages, aides routinely had to step away from their desks to find a location in the Pentagon that received phone service, which is spotty in the building,” the outlet reported.
Another problem is the content of the messages shared on the app, though the paper admitted that nothing classified has ever been divulged.
“In one case, he told aides on the encrypted app to inform foreign governments about an unfolding military operation,” the Journal reported via its sources. “He also used the nongovernmental message service to discuss media appearances, foreign travel, his schedule, and other unclassified but sensitive information.”
Hegseth: “Nobody is texting war plans…There’s no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information.”
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) March 26, 2025
Yet another problem, according to the Journal, is that some of this info wasn’t published by Hegseth himself but rather by his military aide, Marine Col. Ricky Buria, after he was given access to the secretary’s phone.
“It was Buria who posted information in March about an imminent U.S. attack on Houthi militants in Yemen into a Signal chat group that included the secretary’s wife, brother, and private lawyer,” the Journal noted.
The paper also obtained a quote from a former U.S. intelligence officer, Marc Polymeropoulos, about why sharing “unclassified but sensitive information” is itself a problem.
“The use of personal phones and commercial apps introduces unnecessary risk,” Polymeropoulos said. “Signal is considered unclassified by the government for a reason. It’s clear that U.S. government systems are having a hard time keeping up with the required pace of business.”
But critics point to the Biden administration’s extensive use of Signal as proof that the media are only making a big stink now because Hegseth works for President Donald Trump, a Republican.
NEW @DC_Reporter:
Joe Biden’s Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, used Signal “all the time and on her personal phone,” according to multiple career employees’ exclusive statements. pic.twitter.com/DIoDMgu6gp
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) April 3, 2025
Tulsi Gabbard: “Limited use of an end-to-end encrypted app like Signal is not only authorized under this administration, it was used prolifically under the Biden administration as well” pic.twitter.com/2tlChXdEt8
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 25, 2025
In fairness, the Pentagon finally issued a directive in 2023 restricting the use of non-government apps like Signal to conduct official business.
“DOD personnel won’t use non-DOD accounts or personal email accounts, messaging systems or other nonpublic DOD information systems, except approved or authorized government contractor systems, to conduct official business,” a memo from the then-Pentagon chief information officer said.
But to the Journal’s credit, it obtained a quote from a George Washington University Law School associate dean for academic affairs and national security law professor Aram Gavoor saying that “this memo isn’t definitive to determine the legality of Secretary Hegseth’s use of Signal on a personal device to transmit nonpublic, unclassified DOD information.”
That being said, outgoing national security adviser Mike Waltz has been blamed for the Signal controversy because he was the one who originally accidentally invited an establishment “journalist” into a Signal group chat. That’s why he’s since been reassigned elsewhere.
As for Hegseth, President Trump made it clear during an interview over the weekend that he has no intention of firing him.
“Pete’s going to be great,” Trump said. “He’s doing a great job.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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