Someone used artificial intelligence-powered software to imitate Secretary of State Marco Rubio's voice and writing style in contacting foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress.
Authorities do not know who is behind impersonation attempts, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing a senior U.S. official and a cable sent by Rubio's office to State Department employees.
However, the report added the offender likely was attempting to manipulate powerful government officials "with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts."
The imposter used both text messaging and the encrypted messaging app Signal.
According to the July cable, the culprit "contacted at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress" after creating a Signal account using the display name Marco.Rubio@state.gov in mid-June.
The email address is not Rubio's real address.
"The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal," the cable said, according to the Post.
Other State Department employees were impersonated using email, the cable added.
Newsmax reached out to both the State Department and White House for comment.
"The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently investigating the matter," a senior department official told Newsmax in a statement. "The Department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to improve the department's cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents. For security reasons, and due to our ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to offer further details at this time."
This is not the first time administration has dealt with an issue involving the Signal chat platform.
In March, The Atlantic's editor-in-chief was accidentally included in group chat with top Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and then-White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, who were discussing plans for military action in Yemen.
In April, Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemen's Houthi terrorists that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, The New York Times reported.
Hegseth later said "informal, unclassified coordinations" were shared in the online chat and added that an internal probe into leakers at the Pentagon continued.
In May, the Journal reported federal authorities were investigating an effort to impersonate White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.