Defense Minister Beit Higseth had a signal of the commercial correspondence application that was prepared on a computer in his office in the Pentagon so that he could send and receive immediate messages in a place where personal mobile phones were not allowed, according to two people on the knowledge of the matter.
Mr. Higseth’s move facilitated the easiest contacts in a building where the cell service is poor and not allowed personal phones in certain areas. It was reported for the first time before Washington Post.
Defense Minister has a computer in his office, one for personal use and one issued by the government, according to one of the people who have knowledge of the issue. Both speak on the condition that his identity is not disclosed due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Mr. Higseth had cables installed in early March so that he could connect a signal for a signal, according to a second person familiar with the issue.
The person said that his secret assistant and Colonel Ricky Puria, his novice military assistant, had the same ability to indicate.
The last revelation came after the New York Times reported that Mr. Higseth has shared very sensitive and detailed attack plans in a signal chat group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer hours before the launch of a mission against Houthi goals in Yemen on March 15.
He had mainly participated in the same information in a group chat with senior national security officials, shortly before the strikes. The truth of that conversation became public when I mentioned the Atlantic Ocean that its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was Unintentionally included in the group chat.
Trump administration officials suggested that there was no problem with Mr. Higseth’s use to indicate his office.
“The Minister of Defense has been classified as communications and channel systems,” said Sean Barnell, a Pentagon spokesman. “However, we can confirm that the secretary has never been used and is not currently using a signal on the government computer.”
Caroline Levit, the White House press secretary, described it as “other abnormal”, noting that the signal is an approved application for government use.
The Pentagon Inspector, his Chargé d’Affaires, announced earlier this month that he would do so Review the disclosure of Mr. Higseth’s strike On a sign.
Senator Roger Wikir, a Republican in the Mississippi, who heads the Armed Services Committee, and the Senior Democrats of the Committee, asked Senator Jack Reed from Road Island, the review. In a speech last month, the Senate members asked the Inspector General to conduct an investigation if Mr. Higseth participated in sensitive or secret information in the National Security Group chat.
The details came about the strikes sent by Mr. Higseth from the US Central Command through a safe government system designed to transfer the classified information, according to an official and person familiar with the talks.
In addition to the disclosure of signal talks, last month, Mr. Higseth witnessed the dissolution of its internal circle of close advisers – the old military warriors who, like him, had nothing but great experience in managing large and complex organizations. Three members of the team that he brought with the Pentagon were accused last week of leaking unauthorized information, and their facilities from the building.
President Trump and White House officials stood alongside Mr. Higseth through both disputes related to the signal.
But Mr. Higseth also disturbed White House officials by reserving himself in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday morning, during which he accused consultants who have launched stories about him.
White House officials told him that they wanted him to get the broken situation while employing him under control, according to a person who is familiar with discussions.
