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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Hugo Lowell in Washington

White House stunned as Hegseth inquiry brings up illegal wiretap claims

two men in navy suits in a room
Pete Hegseth with Donald Trump in the Oval Office on 21 March. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

The White House has lost confidence in a Pentagon leak investigation that Pete Hegseth used to justify firing three top aides last month, after advisers were told that the aides had supposedly been outed by an illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap.

The extraordinary explanation alarmed the advisers, who also raised it with people close to JD Vance, because such a wiretap would almost certainly be unconstitutional and an even bigger scandal than a number of leaks.

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