Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the Signal app on a personal computer in his office that was connected to the internet on an unsecured commercial line, what’s known as a “dirty line,” two sources confirmed to ABC News Thursday.
A “dirty line” is the nickname given to a commercial internet line that is used to connect to websites that would not be available on the Pentagon’s unclassified (NIPR) or classified (SIPR) lines.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a meeting of the Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, at the Justice Department in Washington, April 22, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
This dirty line was installed at Hegseth’s request so he could use the Signal app on the personal computer, the sources said.
A commercial internet line does not have any of the firewall protections that the Defense Department’s unclassified system has, so that makes it potentially susceptible to being monitored particularly if sensitive information is being communicated.
The news was first reported by The Associated Press.
Reached for comment about the existence of the dirty line in Hegseth’s office, a DOD spokesperson referred to an earlier statement from Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson.
“The Secretary of Defense’s use of communications systems and channels is classified,” said Parnell. “However, we can confirm that the Secretary has never used and does not currently use Signal on his government computer.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth strongly denied that what he shared over a second group chat on the Signal messaging app were classified war plans about imminent U.S. airstrikes targeting Houthi militants in Yemen, and blamed former staffers for leaking, accusing them of going to the news media with new information to “sabotage” Trump’s agenda.
Hegseth and other administration officials have insisted that the information about those airstrikes that was shared earlier with another Signal group established by national security adviser Mike Waltz was not classified.
On Tuesday, Hegseth continued to make that case as questions have been raised about how he shared similar information with a smaller Signal group that sources told ABC News included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.
“I look at war plans every single day. What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal unclassified coordination for media coordination other things. That’s what I’ve said from the beginning,” Hegseth said in a live interview from the Pentagon on “Fox & Friends.”
Sources familiar with the chat had earlier told ABC News that Hegseth had established the Signal group with family and friends during his Senate confirmation process. Hegseth was not asked in the interview why he had shared the information with that group of close personal advisers that included his wife, who is not a U.S. government employee.