Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz used personal email, White House says
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump's national security adviser has never used his personal email account to send classified material, the White House said, following a report that Mr Mike Waltz and other National Security Council members used Gmail for government work.
The Washington Post on April 1 said Mr Waltz and other NSC members used the Alphabet Inc-owned commercial email service to conduct government business, a week after the Trump administration's security practices came under bipartisan criticism following its use of the Signal messaging app to coordinate military action in Yemen.
One Waltz aide used Gmail to share information involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapon systems tied to an unspecified ongoing conflict, the Post reported, citing documents it reviewed and interviews with three US officials.
Mr Waltz had less sensitive but still exploitable information sent to his personal email, including his schedule and other work documents, the Post said.
NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes, asked about the report, said, 'NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email.'
'He has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform,' Hughes told Reuters in a statement on April 1.
Mr Hughes did not give details about the content of the emails Mr Waltz had received. But he said Mr Waltz had copied in government email accounts for items received after US President Donald Trump took office on Jan 20 to comply with federal records laws.
Mr Hughes said all NSC staff are informed that 'classified material must only be sent through secure channels' and that 'any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance.'
Mr Waltz, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others have faced sharp criticism following revelations last month that they used Signal – an encrypted commercial messaging app – to coordinate and share highly sensitive details about a planned military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen, rather than using secure government communications channels.
Critics have said the move was a breach of US national security that put operations and service members at risk, among other potential ramifications, and could violate the law.
The administration officials' discussions were shared when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to the Signal chat.
Members of Trump's administration, including Mr Waltz and Mr Hegseth, in the past have leveled harsh criticism at former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state during the Obama administration.
On March 31, the White House said Mr Trump maintained confidence in Mr Waltz and considers the Signal case closed. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to give details about the administration's review of the Signal incident but told reporters steps were taken to ensure it would not happen again.
A bipartisan group of senators have called for a formal probe, and US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on April 2 called for mandated security training for White House personnel.
US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed Mr Waltz following the latest revelations involving Gmail, telling Axios on April 1 that Mr Waltz and Mr Trump's national security team are 'totally and completely unqualified to be in a sensitive national security position.'
Democratic US Representative Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said the email revelations were 'part of a larger pattern of carelessness and recklessness' in the Trump administration that risked US lives.
'Our adversaries – Russia, China, Iran and others – are actively trying to gather information to undermine those missions, to kill American troops. And that sloppiness puts them at great risk,' Mr Crow, a member of the House intelligence and armed services committees, told CNN on April 2. REUTERS
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