The private information of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other top national security officials is available online, as the Trump administration faces scrutiny over leaked Signal messages.
The German outlet Der Spiegel identified e-mails, phone numbers, and some passwords belonging to national security adviser Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Some of the data was commercially available, while other information was leaked by hackers online.
The administration's critics say the private data could be leveraged by counterintelligence operatives to spy on the White House, which has been engulfed in controversy after a journalist was inadvertently included in a sensitive conversation about a military strike in Yemen.
The Trump administration has said the situation is being blown out of proportion, with Trump calling it a "witch hunt."
Using commercially available data, Der Spiegel tracked down an email address that was active until a few days ago, and a phone number that was associated with a recently deleted WhatsApp account. The WhatsApp account had a profile picture of Hegseth with his shirt off. The email address was also found, along with its password, in databases containing hacked user data.
Similarly, Der Spiegel got Waltz's phone and e-mail, and some passwords, linking the information with his Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Signal accounts.
Gabbard's information was more closely guarded, but her leaked email address was reportedly obtained through WikiLeaks and Reddit.
A spokesperson for Waltz told the outlet that his passwords and accounts were changed before he entered Congress in 2019. A spokesperson for Gabbard similarly said that she has updated her passwords several times since her personal data was compromised 10 years ago.
Der Spiegel sent messages to the Signal and WhatsApp accounts associated with Gabbard and Walz, and they were apparently delivered.
The outlet conceded that it is not clear if the Signal accounts are the same ones that were used in the chat about strikes in Yemen.
Separately, WIRED reported that Waltz's friend list on the mobile payment app Venmo was publicly available.
The account, which has since been made private, listed several journalists and government officials, including Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Waltz has taken responsibility for the leak of the administration's communications over Signal. Democrats have called on Waltz and Hegseth to resign.
Trump, after defending Waltz, appeared to shift tone on Wednesday as he blamed him for the leak.
"It was Mike, I guess. I don’t know, I always thought it was Mike," Trump said, adding the scandal is a "witch hunt."
