New in SpyWeek: Signalgate—Still, Worse
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SIGNALGATE PART DEUX: This week has been a near-daily series of revelations about Signalgate and how cavalier Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been with the nation’s secrets.
On Friday, The Times reported that Hegseth’s personal phone number—the one linked to his Signal account—was easily found on the Internet and in public apps, leaving a trail that a foreign intelligence service could easily exploit.
“There’s zero percent chance that someone hasn’t tried to install Pegasus or some other spyware on his phone,” Mike Casey, the former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, told the Times. “He is one of the top five, probably, most targeted people in the world for espionage.”
If anyone has managed to crack Hegseth’s phone, they struck gold. We learned this week that the Defense Secretary has used Signal to share details about an impending attack on Yemen with his wife, brother, and lawyer.
If you’re wondering how you get a commercially available messaging app into a classified workspace, The Washington Post has got you covered.
Hegseth had the secure messaging app installed on a desktop computer in his office. By so doing, he “cloned” the Signal app on his personal cell phone, which fixed the issue of poor cellphone reception in the Pentagon, but created a much bigger problem.
The Pentagon found itself in a pretzel-like position of saying that the secretary of defense’s use of communications systems and channels was classified, while arguing, that the information he shared on Signal—the types of aircraft and weapons used in an airstrike on Houthi rebels in Yemen and when the strike would occur—wasn’t. In a manic appearance on Fox & Friends, the show he once hosted, Hegseth described the information he shared as “informal, unclassified information for media coordination and other things.”
Does anyone still buy this? NBC News reported that the information Hegseth shared on Signal with a journalist (inadvertently) and with his relatives (intentionally) had been relayed to him via a secure U.S. government system designed for sending classified information. Hegseth shared the information 10 minutes after receiving it from Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command.
The network Kurilla used here matters. NBC News didn’t say which one it was, but there are two main possibilities. One is SIPRNet, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, used for sharing sensitive information between the State and Defense Departments.
The other possibility, which would make Hegseth’s bad week even worse, is the Pentagon's Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS), which handles even more sensitive information than SIPRNet.
A 2019 Defense Department article about JWICS described it as “a Top Secret, sensitive, compartmented information network designed initially to serve the intelligence community.” The article noted that the system had grown so rapidly that it had now become known as the “daily system” and was undergoing an overhaul to “potentially extend its capabilities to other parts of the defense community and to more parts of government.”
The shoe that’s left to drop? There’s a pretty good chance that Kurilla’s message was marked as TOP SECRET-NOFORN (No Foreign Distribution).
NSC CHAOS: The National Security Council, which is meant to offer steady, expert guidance on global crises, is now a revolving door of purges, loyalty tests, and social media influencers masquerading as policymakers. The Atlantic reports that Trump’s impatience with process, his obsession with loyalty, and his distrust of his own National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have gutted experienced staff, replaced legal review with vibes, and handed hiring power to fringe figures like Laura Loomer (who thinks 9/11 was staged, among many other absurdities).
Waltz’s office is a few steps from the Oval Office. Still, he wasn’t initially in the room when Loomer paid Trump a visit and told him to fire several NSC staffers, including Alex Wong, the deputy national security adviser. So Waltz entered the room, The Atlantic reports, just as she was preparing to show the president a 2016 conservative anti-Trump ad that featured Waltz accusing Trump of dodging the draft. Wong survived, but former Rubio aide Brian Walsh, who had stood up for a transgender staffer, and David Feith, senior director for technology and national security, were canned.
Trump has apparently soured on Waltz. His TV appearances get bad reviews in the Oval Office, and his accidentally texting war plans to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg didn’t help. The upshot: Waltz has “lost control of his own NSC,” The Atlantic said. Key decisions—like pausing intel sharing with Ukraine—were made without NSC input, which staffers with relevant portfolios learned about from news reports. NSC lawyers also didn’t review any of the 26 executive orders that Trump signed on his first day back in office. Legal protocols? Ignored. Homeland Security czar Stephen Miller is calling more shots than Waltz. Trump’s grip on the NSC is less strategy, more spectacle, and the fallout has left seasoned officials stunned, Congress concerned, and national security hanging by a thread.
LEAK INVESTIGATION: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says she referred two suspected intel leakers to the Department of Justice, with a third—featuring what she called an illegal leak to The Washington Post—on the way. “Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Gabbard pontificated on X. (Hello? Signalgate, anyone?) According to Gabbard, these leaks were “deep state” efforts to sabotage the president’s agenda for political gain. The DOJ and FBI are being called in to investigate.
SPY FOR HIRE: A 68-year-old former top CIA officer from Miami pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent while working for the agency. After a 30-year career culminating in the Senior Intelligence Service, Dale Bendler continued as a contractor starting in 2014. He admitted to secretly working for a U.S. lobbying firm on behalf of unidentified foreign clients, using his CIA access to influence investigations, seek visas, and obtain classified information for unauthorized individuals. He also lied to the CIA and FBI about his activities. The CIA terminated his contract in 2020, and he now faces up to seven years in prison when sentenced in July. (SpyTalk Editor-in-Chief Jeff Stein talked to some of Bendler’s colleagues who say he was suspended with pay years earlier for security violations but the DoJ declined to prosecute. Read Jeff’s writeup.)
NOT JASON BOURNE: A 25-year-old Army sergeant who “wished he could be Jason Bourne” was sentenced to seven years in prison for selling secrets online to a Chinese government agent. Korbein Schultz pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information, unlawfully exporting controlled information to China, and accepting bribes in exchange for sensitive, non-public U.S. government information. Schultz used his Top-Secret clearance to download and transmit at least 92 sensitive U.S. military documents, including lessons learned by the U.S. Army from the Ukraine/Russia conflict that were applicable to Taiwan’s defense, technical aircraft and ICBM system manuals, and information on Chinese military tactics. Schultz was allegedly paid $42,000 for the document, and he also tried to recruit a friend and fellow Army Intelligence analyst into the conspiracy. "I need to get my other BMW back,” he told his handler, who claimed to be a Hong Kong-based geopolitical consultant.
CELL PHONE SPYING: There’s been an explosion in cell phone spying. Verizon, the cell phone giant, said in its annual data breach investigations report that “espionage-motivated” breaches by state-sponsored actors have tripled since its last survey, accounting for 17 percent of all breaches. In seven out of 10 cases, hackers gained access by exploiting known security flaws, highlighting the danger of not keeping systems up to date. “However, we also found that espionage was not the only thing state-sponsored actors were interested in—approximately 28% of incidents involving those actors had a financial motive,” Verizon reported. “There has been media speculation that this may be a case of the threat actors double-dipping to pad their compensation.”
SUPERINTELLIGENCE RACE: A new report circulating in the White House delivers a clear warning: the U.S. isn’t prepared for what’s coming in AI. “America’s Superintelligence Project” is the result of a year-long investigation by Gladstone AI, a firm that advises the U.S. government on AI security. The authors believe we may be on the brink of developing artificial superintelligence (ASI)—a breakthrough that could give whichever country builds it first a huge strategic advantage. American companies are pouring billions into this technology, but much of the work is happening in private labs that lack adequate security. According to the report, it’s likely that China has already infiltrated some of these labs and is stealing sensitive information. Even cutting-edge facilities, like OpenAI’s upcoming Stargate project, are at risk. As TIME recently noted, many of these advanced data centers remain vulnerable to serious cyber and physical attacks.
DISTRUSTED ENVOY: Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany and acting Director of National Intelligence in Trump’s first term, was investigated for leaking a “sensitive but unclassified” State Department cable. Bloomberg’s FOIA sleuth, Jason Leopold, obtained a previously undisclosed report by the State Department’s Inspector General that was opened on March 10, 2020. Grenell had pasted a cable from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordering diplomats to cease meeting with Iranian opposition groups to a person who worked at a Washington think tank and was also a “media contributor.” Above the classification line, Grenell wrote, “Thoughts?”
HAVANA SYNDROME: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford has called on the Department of Labor to address alleged delinquent payments for a former NSA officer suffering from the effects of Havana Syndrome. Former NSA counterintelligence officer Mike Beck is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, which he believes was caused by a 1996 attack on him in Russia. Beck told journalist Catherine Herridge that he was attacked by “a hostile intelligence service” after he “walked in on an operation that the hostile country was doing.” In a letter to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Crawford expressed concern over the department's reported three-month delay in covering the cost of Beck’s care in an assisted living facility. (SpyTalk Contributing Editor Michael Isikoff interviewed Beck back in 2022 and reported on his case in his Conspiracyland podcast.)
AI & BIOWEAPONS: China is “probably capable” of using artificial intelligence to advance applications of biological weapons, according to the State Department’s annual arms compliance report. The report also warns that Russia, North Korea, and Iran are conducting research that raises concerns about their adherence to the Biological Weapons Convention, a 1972 arms treaty that bans developing and stockpiling deadly bioweapons. The Washington Times reports that the State Department repeated concerns from last year regarding Beijing’s failure to disclose details about offensive biological arms that include weaponized ricin and botulinum toxins, as well as military agents for spreading anthrax, cholera, plague, and tularemia.
POCKET LITTER:
Russia is increasing its hybrid attacks aimed at undermining society in the Netherlands and its European allies, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD says. The MIVD says Russia was behind a sabotage attack on an unspecified Dutch public service. (Reuters)
Two Chinese nationals were apprehended by police in South Korea for filming fighter jets near a U.S. airbase in South Korea. Amazingly, the pair had been picked up doing the same thing — in the same area — just two days earlier. They were released after authorities determined that no espionage was involved. (The Korea Times)
Chinese spies are eavesdropping on British political figures by bugging park benches and buildings in Whitehall, security sources believe. (The Daily Mail)
FBI Director Kash Patel toured the bureau’s facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, fulfilling a promise he made during his confirmation hearing. “I just want to let America know, part of the move to get FBI agents and intel analysts and support staff out in the field is going to come right through Redstone Arsenal,” Patel said. “We’re going to put more and more and more people here on a permanent basis from the FBI.” (Al.com)
Jeff Stein contributed to this story.
Is there something we missed? Or something you would like to see more of? Send your tips, corrections, and thoughts to SpyTalk@protonmail.com.
There are too many dikes and too few thumbs. Someone needs to get on this, perhaps an expanded all-agency task force to audit current practices and implement best practices. Has anyone sat down with senior leadership and 'explained' the rules?
I can't imagine I missed so much this week. Thanks for keeping me up to date.