White House Chief of Staff John Kelly's personal cellphone was compromised — possibly as early as December — three federal officials said Thursday.
Kelly, 67, a retired Marine general, was named Homeland Security Secretary in January, joining the White House staff in July.
Politico reported Thursday that "three U.S. government officials" believed Kelly's phone was breached, possibly by hackers or foreign governments — and giving them access to critical data.
"Tech support staff discovered the suspected breach after Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support this summer complaining that it wasn't working or updating software properly," Politico reported.
The chief of staff said the phone "hadn't been working properly for months," the officials said.
However, "several government officials said it was unclear when — or where — Kelly's phone was first compromised," according to the report.
It remained unclear whether any data, or what kind, might have been breached.
White House aides also summarized the incident in a memo in September and circulated the document among the staff.
A White House spokesman told Politico that Kelly had rarely used the phone since joining the administration, relying mostly on his government-issued device.
The official, "who did not dispute any of Politico's reporting" on the matter, said Kelly did not have the phone anymore — but would not say where it was currently.
Kelly does use a different personal phone, one of the officials told Politico, but he uses his government phone while inside the White House.
According to the September memo, White House staffer analyzed the phone over several days to determine why it was inoperable — and many of the phone's functions were not working.
"The IT department concluded the phone had been compromised and should not be used further," Politico reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.