Mike Waltz, Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard’s private data leaked online, including phone numbers and passwords

The private data of several top security advisers to Donald Trump have been found online amid the Signal leak scandal.

Published on: Mar 27, 2025, 08:11:39 IST

By Sumanti Sen

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The private data of several top security advisers to Donald Trump have been found online, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported. National security adviser Mike Waltz, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s mobile phone numbers, email addresses and in some cases even passwords can be found via commercial data-search services and hacked data that was dumped online. However, it is unclear how recent all the details are.

Mike Waltz, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard’s private data leaked online (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File, photo by Annabelle GORDON / AFP, REUTERS/Leah Millis)

This incident comes at a time when the Trump administration is facing calls for senior officials to step down amid the Signal leak scandal. The controversy surfaced after The Atlantic revealed that Jeffrey Goldberg, its editor-in-chief, added to a secret group chat by mistake where high-ranking Trump administration members had been discussing an upcoming military strike against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. This led to the administration’s handling of classified conversations to be questioned. The chat group reportedly included Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth, the secretary of state Marco Rubio, and others. Trump later said Hegseth “had nothing to do with this” and called the scandal a “witch-hunt.”

What private data has been found?

The phone numbers and email IDs found were used for Instagram and LinkedIn profiles in some cases, as well as cloud-storage service Dropbox, and apps that track a user’s location. According to Der Spiegel, it was “particularly easy” to discover Hegseth’s mobile number and email address, using a commercial provider of contact information. The outlet found that the email address, and even the password associated with it, could be found in over 20 data leaks. The email address was reportedly used only a few days back. In fact, the mobile number led to a WhatsApp account that seemed to have been recently deleted by Hegseth.

Gabbard and Waltz’ numbers, on the other hand, were linked to accounts on WhatsApp and Signal, exposing them to having spyware installed on their devices. The national security council said Waltz’ accounts and passwords that were referenced by the German magazine were changed in 2019.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sumanti Sen
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More

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