Hegseth team blindsided over use of secret messaging apps: 'Going to take that as a yes'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was surprised by a question during a congressional hearing on Wednesday over whether Pentagon officials were using a secret messaging app.

Hegseth appeared to be caught off guard during the House Armed Services Committee hearing when Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA) asked Pentagon officials, including Jules W. Hurst III, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, if they had Signal on their phones.

"I'm sorry, why is this relevant?" Hurst asked.

Whitesides pressed again.

"Do you have Signal on your phone?" Whitesides asked.

"What does this have to do with the budget?" Hurst responded.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Whitesides said. "Gen. Caine, do you have Signal on your phone?

"I do, sir, yes," Caine said.

Whitesides brought up the unclassified use of Signal by the Department of Defense last year, and how officials had previously been accused of using Signal to message about strikes in Yemen, sending sensitive information across the encrypted group chat. The lawmaker asked if the policy had changed and if Pentagon officials were now using the app.

Hurst pushed back — and Caine backtracked — saying he needed to check whether he had Signal on his personal phone or work phone.

"Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel made a public announcement that Russian hackers are targeting Signal app users in the government, specifically stated that they were targeting individuals of high intelligence value, including former U.S. government officials," Whitesides added. "I hope that it is not official policy that you can have Signal on your official phones and I would love to get a response on the department on that."