Private data of top Trump officials leaked online - Spiegel
Photo: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Getty Images)
Personal data of top officials from US President Donald Trump's administration have been found on the internet. Among them are National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Spiegel reports.
German journalists managed to find mobile phone numbers, email addresses, and even some passwords of senior US officials in publicly available online sources. They used commercial search engines as well as hacked customer data that had been published on the internet.
Most of these phone numbers and email addresses are still in use, and some are linked to social media profiles on Instagram and LinkedIn. They were also used to create accounts and profiles on Dropbox. Some phone numbers were associated with WhatsApp profiles and, in certain cases, even Signal accounts.
The data of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was obtained through a commercial contact information provider typically used by companies for sales, marketing, and recruitment. Journalists provided a link to Hegseth's LinkedIn profile, after which the service shared his Gmail address, mobile number, and other details.
Spiegel found that this email was still active a few days ago. However, its name - and in some cases, even its password - appeared in over 20 publicly accessible leaks. Hegseth's phone number was linked to a WhatsApp account, which was likely deleted recently.
Mike Waltz’s phone number and email address were also found through the same service. Journalists also uncovered several passwords linked to his email, as well as profiles on Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Signal.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had apparently blocked her data in the commercial contact search engines. However, her email address was still found on WikiLeaks and Reddit.
Spiegel also established that both Gabbard's and Waltz's private and publicly listed phone numbers were linked to their Signal accounts.
Journalists do not rule out the possibility that hostile intelligence agencies could have used this openly accessible data to hack into the devices of US national security officials and install spyware.
Signal chat scandal
Recently, a scandal erupted involving National Security Advisor Mike Waltz after he accidentally added The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, to a secret Signal chat.
The chat reportedly included top US officials and allegedly discussed plans for strikes against Yemen's Houthis. Waltz denied intentionally adding the journalist and claimed he did not even have Goldberg's number. However, he later took responsibility after lashing out at Goldberg with insults.
US President Donald Trump defended Waltz, saying he had "learned his lesson." However, Politico reported that Trump was furious that Waltz even had the phone number of The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, as the media resource is known for its opposition to the US President.
To find out more about the Signal data leak scandal, read our material on the topic.
