Members of US President Donald Trump's National Security Council (NSC), including National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, have used their personal Gmail accounts for official government communication, raising concerns over data security, a report said Tuesday.
One of Waltz's senior aides used Gmail for "highly technical conversations with colleagues at other government agencies involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict," said The Washington Post, citing US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials told the Post that Waltz "has had less sensitive, but potentially exploitable information sent to his Gmail, such as his schedule and other work documents."
"The officials said Waltz would sometimes copy and paste from his schedule into Signal to coordinate meetings and discussions," it added.
While there is no evidence that classified material was shared, national security experts warn that personal email accounts are vulnerable to hacking and foreign surveillance.
It came after a report last week by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, that he had been mistakenly added to a confidential Signal group chat about military operations in Yemen on March 13 after receiving a connection request from an account bearing Waltz's name two days prior.
NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes denied any wrongdoing, saying when work-related materials are sent to Waltz's personal account, he ensures his government email is cc'd to comply with federal records laws.
"Let me reiterate, NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email and cc'd government accounts for anything since January 20th to ensure compliance with records retention, and he has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform," Hughes said.
He said he could not verify the report about the senior NSC official because the reporter "refused to share any part of the document reported."
"Any correspondence containing classified material must only be sent through secure channels, and all NSC staff are informed of this. It is also made clear to NSC personnel that any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance," he added.
