Latest news with #SignalGate
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Who is Brian Kilmeade's wife, Dawn Kilmeade? She met the Fox & Friends host at high school in New York, runs a clothing boutique in their hometown, and shares 3 children with him
In April, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo traded insults on X over their perception of 'SignalGate'. After US national security adviser Mike Waltz accidentally added a journalist to a Signal group chat discussing air strikes on Yemen, his carelessness sparked widespread discussions about cybersecurity and the mishandling of classified information. Advertisement Kilmeade claimed that the press was trying to make a spectacle of the controversy as a distraction. 'Watch @cnn @msnbc @ABCPolitics all try to Russiafy this #signal story – won't work,' he wrote on X. NewsNation's Cuomo replied: 'This is a propagandist,' which struck a nerve with Kilmeade. 'You are a discredited ego maniac who no one watches. Sorry I can't be more like your idol @donlemon,' Kilmeade retorted, alluding to the way Cuomo dealt with his brother Andrew Cuomo 's sexual harassment controversy and the allegations of ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon's misogyny. The war of words renewed attention on Kilmeade and his personal life. So, what do we know about his wife, Dawn Kilmeade, who prefers to stay firmly out of the spotlight? What is Dawn Kilmeade's background? Brian Kilmeade's wife Dawn Kilmeade, picture here with her husband and daughters, is from New York. Photo: @kilmeade/Instagram Dawn Kilmeade (née DeGaetano) is a New York native, per Distractify. She grew up with a sister, Denise Durso, as noted in her mum's obituary. She also went to Hofstra University, according to the Massapequa Herald Post. What does she do for work? Dawn Kilmeade with her daughters Kaitlyn and Kirstyn. Photo: @kilmeade/X Dawn Kilmeade runs a clothing store called Wild Willows Boutique in Massapequa with her friend, fellow Hofstra graduate and business partner Kathy Camada, per the Massapequa Herald Post. The outlet describes their brand's aesthetic as 'contemporary casual'. The two women were encouraged by their daughters to start the venture. However, Kilmeade has admitted to having difficulty balancing her professional and her personal life. 'To balance the family and this business has been a struggle, especially around the holidays,' she said. Her relationship with Brian Kilmeade
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump wields the knife as he purges over 100 staffers from top agency in charge of America's national security
Donald Trump is ordering a major overhaul of the National Security Council that will shrink its size by over 100 staffers in the wake of the 'SignalGate' scandal that got ex-advisor Mike Waltz fired. The move will see the ouster of some political appointees, and return many career government employees back to their home agencies. The number of staff at the NSC is expected to be significantly reduced, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matter. CNN reported that over 100 employees are going to be given a pink slip in the reorganization. The shakeup is just the latest shoe to drop at the NSC, which is being dramatically made over after the ouster early this month of Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been serving as national security adviser since the ouster of Waltz, who was nominated to serve as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations. The move is expected to elevate the importance of the State Department and Pentagon in advising Trump on important foreign policy decisions. But, ultimately, Trump relies on his own instincts above all else when making decisions. The NSC, created during the Truman administration, is an arm of the White House tasked with advising and assisting the president on national security and foreign policy and coordinating among various government agencies. Trump was frustrated in his first term by political appointees and advisers who he felt gummed up his 'America First' agenda. There were roughly 395 people working at the NSC, including about 180 support staff, according to one official. About 90 to 95 of those being ousted are policy or subject matter experts seconded from other government agencies. They will be given an opportunity to return to their home agencies if they want. Many of the political appointees will also be given positions elsewhere in the administration, the official said. The NSC has been in a continual state of tumult during the early going of Trump´s second go-around in the White House. Waltz was ousted weeks after Trump fired several NSC officials, just a day after the influential far-right activist Laura Loomer raised concerns directly to him about staff loyalty. And the White House, days into the administration, sidelined about 160 NSC aides, sending them home while the administration reviewed staffing and tried to align it with Trump´s agenda. The aides were career government employees, commonly referred to as detailees. This latest shakeup amounts to a 'liquidation' of NSC staffing with both career government detailees on assignment to the NSC being sent back to their home agencies and several political appointees being pushed out of their positions, according to the person familiar with the decision. A White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the overhaul, first reported by Axios, was underway but declined further comment. Waltz during his short tenure heading the NSC came under searing criticism in March after revelations that he added journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to a private text chain on an encrypted messaging app that was used to discuss planning for a sensitive military operation against Houthi militants in Yemen. Waltz has taken responsibility for building the text chain but has said he does not know how Goldberg ended up being included. Loomer had encouraged Trump to purge aides who she believes are insufficiently loyal to the 'Make America Great Again' agenda. She also complained to sympathetic administration officials that Waltz was too reliant on 'neocons' - shorthand for the more hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party - as well as what she perceived as 'not-MAGA-enough' types, the person said. It wasn´t just Loomer who viewed Waltz suspiciously. He was viewed with a measure of skepticism by some in the MAGA world who saw the former Army Green Beret and three-term congressman as too tied to Washington's foreign policy establishment. On Russia, Waltz shared Trump´s concerns about the high price tag of extensive U.S. military aid to Ukraine. But Waltz also advocated for further diplomatically isolating President Vladimir Putin - a position that was out of step with Trump, who has viewed the Russian leader, at moments, with admiration for his cunning in dealings with Trump´s predecessors. His more hawkish rhetoric on Iran and China, including U.S. policy toward Taiwan, seemed increasingly out of step with Trump. The president - setting aside belligerent rhetoric about taking over Greenland from Denmark - has tilted more toward military restraint and diplomacy in facing some of the United States' most challenging issues with adversaries.
Economic Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Pete Hegseth lands in another controversy: US Defense Secretary under scrutiny again after Signal Gate scandal
Pete Hegseth accused of plagiarism Live Events Pentagon responds (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has landed in yet another controversy. After Signal Gate scandal and row over his wife attending high-level sensitive military meetings, Hegseth has been accused of plagiarism by the student paper at Princeton University — his alma mater, according to The Daily Princetonian has alleged that Pete Hegseth's 2003 senior thesis contains eight instances of "uncredited material, sham paraphrasing, and verbatim copying."Hegseth's thesis titled "Modern Presidential Rhetoric and the Cold War Context," was reviewed by three plagiarism experts. They were not made aware of the identity of the author before assessing the one example, Hegseth wrote about President George W. Bush's reaction to being told of the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11.'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders, joking that they 'read like sixth-graders,'' wrote the now defense article in The Washington published in 2001 shortly after the attacks, reads: 'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders read and soon was smiling again. He joked that they read so well, they must be sixth-graders.' The Post article is not cited in Hegseth's detection models identified 12 passages in the thesis, of which experts consulted by the newspaper deemed only eight to be notably significant. The remaining four, while not individually alarming, were considered to contribute to 'a broader pattern of some form of plagiarism.'Although all three experts agreed that the passages breached Princeton's academic integrity rules, they differed in their assessments of the severity—some viewed the violations as serious, while others considered them too minor to warrant major M. Lang, author of Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty, characterised the case as "borderline," stating to the Princetonian, "There's no silver bullet here; there's no smoking gun in terms of a deep example of plagiarism."Instead, he noted that the situation presented more "gray than black and white," circumstances, with roughly half of the plagiarism examples being severe and the other half being relatively example where experts diverge is a passage written by the defense secretary regarding former President John F. Kennedy's Berlin Wall speech."The Berlin Wall speech represents a rare occurrence in presidential rhetoric; caught up in the emotion of the moment, Kennedy, who had just given a speech about the need for peace, got carried away and just ad-libbed the opposite, saying there was no way to work with the Communists," Hegseth passage closely mirrors one found in Richard Reeves' book President Kennedy: Profile of Power, which states: 'In his enthusiasm, Kennedy, who had just given a peace speech and was trying to work out a test ban treaty with the Soviets, had gotten carried away and just ad-libbed the opposite, saying there was no way to work with Communists.'Although Reeves is cited in Hegseth's paper—even in reference to that specific sentence—quotation marks are not used. While Lang views the issue as serious, Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today told The Princetonian that the infraction wasn't particularly severe.'Even the ones that were more direct still typically only involve a sentence or two at a time,' Bailey explained. Guy Curtis, an academic integrity researcher at the University of Western Australia, noted that the thesis did violate university rules regarding unattributed copying.'Once you get 10 to 15 words in a row by 'accident' that match something else — it's probably not accidental,' Curtis there are no formal regulations governing plagiarism discovered after graduation. Bailey suggested these instances likely stemmed from negligence rather than intent. 'This doesn't fit the pattern of someone who deliberately, maliciously tried to plagiarize their way through,' he said. 'It seems more like a case of poor writing practices and weak methodology.'After The Daily Princetonian published its piece, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell released a statement to showing his support for Hegseth."Secretary Hegseth has written five books. He's written hundreds of papers and op-eds. During the confirmation process, every word was reviewed by top left-wing law firms working in conjunction with every media outlet in the country," Parnell has recently faced scrutiny over two Signal group chat incidents and significant Pentagon departures. The first involved a chat established by national security adviser Mike Waltz where Hegseth shared Houthi attack plans. The second chat, involving his family members and lawyer, discussed similar matters, though Hegseth maintained it was "informal" and "unclassified.""They found no plagiarism because there was no plagiarism. This is a fake story designed to distract from the DoD's historic accomplishments under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership."
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pete Hegseth lands in another controversy: US Defense Secretary under scrutiny again after Signal Gate scandal
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has landed in yet another controversy. After Signal Gate scandal and row over his wife attending high-level sensitive military meetings, Hegseth has been accused of plagiarism by the student paper at Princeton University — his alma mater, according to The Independent. #Operation Sindoor The damage done at Pak bases as India strikes to avenge Pahalgam Why Pakistan pleaded to end hostilities Kashmir's Pahalgam sparks Karachi's nightmare The Daily Princetonian has alleged that Pete Hegseth's 2003 senior thesis contains eight instances of "uncredited material, sham paraphrasing, and verbatim copying." Pete Hegseth accused of plagiarism Hegseth's thesis titled "Modern Presidential Rhetoric and the Cold War Context," was reviewed by three plagiarism experts. They were not made aware of the identity of the author before assessing the work. In one example, Hegseth wrote about President George W. Bush's reaction to being told of the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11. 'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders, joking that they 'read like sixth-graders,'' wrote the now defense secretary. Live Events An article in The Washington published in 2001 shortly after the attacks, reads: 'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders read and soon was smiling again. He joked that they read so well, they must be sixth-graders.' The Post article is not cited in Hegseth's paper. ALSO READ: Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer 'cocaine scandal' takes the internet by storm. What is the truth? Plagiarism detection models identified 12 passages in the thesis, of which experts consulted by the newspaper deemed only eight to be notably significant. The remaining four, while not individually alarming, were considered to contribute to 'a broader pattern of some form of plagiarism.' Although all three experts agreed that the passages breached Princeton's academic integrity rules, they differed in their assessments of the severity—some viewed the violations as serious, while others considered them too minor to warrant major concern. James M. Lang, author of Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty, characterised the case as "borderline," stating to the Princetonian, "There's no silver bullet here; there's no smoking gun in terms of a deep example of plagiarism." Instead, he noted that the situation presented more "gray than black and white," circumstances, with roughly half of the plagiarism examples being severe and the other half being relatively minor. ALSO READ: What is Trump's 'most favored nation' drug pricing policy and how will it reduce costs? Explained One example where experts diverge is a passage written by the defense secretary regarding former President John F. Kennedy's Berlin Wall speech. "The Berlin Wall speech represents a rare occurrence in presidential rhetoric; caught up in the emotion of the moment, Kennedy, who had just given a speech about the need for peace, got carried away and just ad-libbed the opposite, saying there was no way to work with the Communists," Hegseth penned. The passage closely mirrors one found in Richard Reeves' book President Kennedy: Profile of Power, which states: 'In his enthusiasm, Kennedy, who had just given a peace speech and was trying to work out a test ban treaty with the Soviets, had gotten carried away and just ad-libbed the opposite, saying there was no way to work with Communists.' Although Reeves is cited in Hegseth's paper—even in reference to that specific sentence—quotation marks are not used. While Lang views the issue as serious, Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today told The Princetonian that the infraction wasn't particularly severe. ALSO READ: 'Terror state': MAGA loyalists fume over Trump's $400 million Qatar Air Force One gift 'Even the ones that were more direct still typically only involve a sentence or two at a time,' Bailey explained. Guy Curtis, an academic integrity researcher at the University of Western Australia, noted that the thesis did violate university rules regarding unattributed copying. 'Once you get 10 to 15 words in a row by 'accident' that match something else — it's probably not accidental,' Curtis said. Still, there are no formal regulations governing plagiarism discovered after graduation. Bailey suggested these instances likely stemmed from negligence rather than intent. 'This doesn't fit the pattern of someone who deliberately, maliciously tried to plagiarize their way through,' he said. 'It seems more like a case of poor writing practices and weak methodology.' ALSO READ: Gold walls, opulent furnishings: All about $400m 'flying palace' from Qatar which Trump will use as Air Force One Pentagon responds After The Daily Princetonian published its piece, Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell released a statement to showing his support for Hegseth. "Secretary Hegseth has written five books. He's written hundreds of papers and op-eds. During the confirmation process, every word was reviewed by top left-wing law firms working in conjunction with every media outlet in the country," Parnell said. Hegseth has recently faced scrutiny over two Signal group chat incidents and significant Pentagon departures. The first involved a chat established by national security adviser Mike Waltz where Hegseth shared Houthi attack plans. The second chat, involving his family members and lawyer, discussed similar matters, though Hegseth maintained it was "informal" and "unclassified." "They found no plagiarism because there was no plagiarism. This is a fake story designed to distract from the DoD's historic accomplishments under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth's leadership."
WIRED
02-05-2025
- Politics
- WIRED
Mike Waltz Has Somehow Gotten Even Worse at Using Signal
On ThursdaY, Reuters published a photo depicting then-United States national security advisor Mike Waltz checking his phone during a cabinet meeting held by President Trump in the White House. If you enlarge the portion of the image that captures Waltz's screen, it seems to show him using the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal. But if you look more closely, a notification on the screen refers to the app as 'TM SGNL.' During a White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday, then, Waltz was apparently using an Israeli-made app called TeleMessage Signal to message with people who appear to be top US officials, including JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Tulsi Gabbard. After senior Trump administration cabinet members used vanishing Signal messages to coordinate March military strikes in Yemen—and accidentally included the editor in chief of The Atlantic in the group chat—the "SignalGate" scandal highlighted concerning breaches of traditional government "operational security" protocol as well as compliance issues with federal records retention laws. At the center of the debacle was Waltz, who was ousted by Trump as US national security advisor on Thursday. Waltz created the 'Houthi PC Small Group' chat and was the member who added top Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. "I take full responsibility. I built the group," Waltz told Fox News in late March. "We've got the best technical minds looking at how this happened," he added at the time. SignalGate had nothing to do with Signal. The app was functioning normally and was simply being used at an inappropriate time for an incredibly sensitive discussion that should have been carried out on special-purpose, hardened federal devices and software platforms. If you're going to flout the protocols, though, Signal is (relatively speaking) a good place to do it, because the app is designed so only the senders and receivers of messages in a group chat can read them. And the app is built to collect as little information as possible about its users and their associates. This means that if US government officials were chatting on the app, spies or malicious hackers could only access their communications by directly compromising participants' devices—a challenge that is potentially surmountable, but at least limits possible access points. Using an app like TeleMessage Signal, though, presumably in an attempt to comply with data retention requirements, opens up numerous other paths for adversaries to access messages. "I don't even know where to start with this," says Jake Williams, a former NSA hacker and vice president of research and development at Hunter Strategy. 'It's mind blowing that the federal government is using Israeli tech to route extremely sensitive data for archival purposes. You just know that someone is grabbing a copy of that data. Even if TeleMessage isn't willingly giving it up, they have just become one of the biggest nation state targets out there.' TeleMessage was founded in Israel in 1999 by former Israel Defense Forces technologists and run out of the country until it was acquired last year by the US-based digital communications archiving company Smarsh. The service creates duplicates of communication apps that are outfitted with a 'mobile archiver' tool to record and store messages sent through the app. 'Capture, archive and monitor mobile communication: SMS, MMS, Voice Calls, WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram & Signal,' TeleMessage says on its website. For Signal it adds, 'Record and capture Signal calls, texts, multimedia and files on corporate-issued and employee BYOD phones.' (BYOD stands for bring your own device.) In other words, there are TeleMessage versions of Signal for essentially any mainstream consumer device. The company says that using TeleMessage Signal, users can 'Maintain all Signal app features and functionality as well as the Signal encryption,' adding that the app provides 'End-to-End encryption from the mobile phone through to the corporate archive.' The existence of 'the corporate archive,' though, undermines the privacy and security of the end-to-end encryption scheme.
