Defense Minister Pete Hegseth uses a signal application on a private computer in his office connected to the internet on a commercial path without guarantees, what is known as “dirty lines,” two sources confirmed to ABC News Thursday.
“Dirty lines” are nicknames given to commercial internet pathways that are used to connect to websites that will not be available on pentagon lines that are not classified (NIPR) or classified (SIPR).
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended a meeting that eradicated the anti-Christian bias task force, at the Department of Justice in Washington, April 22, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
This dirty line is installed at the request of Hegseth so that he can use the signal application on a personal computer, the source said.
The commercial internet pathway does not have a firewall protection owned by the defense department system that is not classified, thus making it potentially vulnerable to be monitored, especially if sensitive information is communicated.
The news is the first reported by Associated Press.
Obtained to comment on the existence of dirty lines in the Hegseth office, DOD’s spokesperson refers to the previous statement from Sean Parnelll, head of the Pentagon spokesman.
“The use of the system and communication channel of the defense secretary is classified,” Parnell said. “However, we can confirm that the secretary has never used it and currently does not use signals on the government’s computer.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth strongly denied that what he shared with the second group chat in the signal message application was classified as a war plan about the US air strike targeting the Houthi militant in Yemen, and blamed former staff for leaking, accused them of going to news media with new information to “Sabotage” Trump’s agenda.
Hegseth and other administrative officials insist that information about air strikes distributed previously with other signal groups established by national security advisor Mike Waltz was not classified.
On Tuesday, Hegseth continued to propose the case because the question had been asked about how he shared similar information with a smaller signal group that the source told ABC News including his wife, his brother, and his personal lawyer.
“I see a war plan every day. What is shared about signals first and now, but you characterize it, is informal coordination that is not classified for media coordination of other things. That’s what I said from the start,” Hegseth said in a direct interview from Pentagon at “Fox & Friends.”
The source who was familiar with the previous chat told ABC News that Hegseth had established a signal group with family and friends during the senate confirmation process. Hegseth was not asked in an interview why he shared information with close personal advisors who included his wife, who were not US government employees.