Mike Waltz used unsecured Gmail for government affairs – WP
Photo: National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Mike Waltz (Getty Images)
US President's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his team used unsecured email to conduct government affairs. They relied on Google email, The Washington Post reports.
Three US officials told the agency that members of the National Security Council (NSC) of the US president conducted government business using personal Gmail accounts. This was also confirmed by documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
According to the emails, Waltz used his personal email for highly technical discussions with colleagues from other government agencies, which included information about critical military positions and powerful weapons systems.
While the NSC staffer used his Gmail account, his colleagues from interagency services used government-issued accounts, as shown by the email headers.
According to officials, Waltz received his schedule and other work-related documents via Google email. They said that at times, the National Security Advisor copied and pasted details from his schedule into Signal to coordinate meetings and discussions.
Experts say that using personal email, even for non-classified materials, poses a risk, given that foreign intelligence services consider information about the communications and schedules of high-ranking US officials to be valuable.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes denied that Waltz used his personal email as described and stated that in cases where "old contacts" sent him work-related materials, he always forwarded a copy to his government email to archive official correspondence as required by law.
When asked about the NSC official who allegedly discussed sensitive military matters via Gmail, Hughes said that staff members are instructed to use "only secure platforms for classified information."
Signal chat scandal
As a reminder, a scandal recently erupted in the US involving National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. He accidentally added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a secret Signal chat where US strikes on Yemeni Houthis were being discussed.
Waltz claimed that he allegedly did not have Goldberg’s number. However, he later admitted responsibility and lashed out at the journalist with insults.
Donald Trump sided with his advisor, but according to Politico, he was furious that Waltz had the number of a journalist from an opposition publication.
For more details on the data leak scandal, read the RBC-Ukraine report.
