Good afternoon everyone. I just finished speaking with Congressman Pat Ryan, a former Army Intelligence officer. Ryan told me plainly that he would be court martialed and face prison time if he engaged in the same conduct that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is reported to have engaged in regarding the handling of classified information and the use of Signal. Before I continue, If you have not yet, please consider subscribing. Your support is what allows me to do this work full time and continue delivering unflinching, real-time coverage.

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At the same time, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, described the footage of the September 2 strike as “one of the most troubling things” he has seen in his time in office.

Himes said, “Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in the position to continue their mission in any way. We don’t, we don’t — People will someday see this video and they will see that that video shows — If you don’t have the broader context — an attack on shipwrecked sailors.”

Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley rejected a report from The Washington Post stating that Secretary Hegseth issued a “kill them all” order against an alleged drug-smuggling boat. After a briefing with Bradley, Himes told reporters, “The Admiral confirmed that there had not been a kill them all order and that there was not an order to grant no quarter.” That raises the question: is Admiral Bradley telling the truth, and if not, who is the Post citing?

According to the Post report, which cites two people with direct knowledge, Hegseth issued the alleged order before the suspected drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Trinidad was struck. The report states that after the initial strike, two survivors remained in the water. Bradley then gave a second order to take out the remaining survivors, viewing them as legitimate threats.

The Post reported that Bradley told people on the secure conference call that the survivors were still legitimate targets because they could theoretically call other traffickers to retrieve them and their cargo.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense Inspector General has released its report on Secretary Hegseth’s use of Signal for sending operational information.

A direct quote from the IG review states: “The Secretary’s actions created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.”

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Key findings include:

  • “The Secretary sent nonpublic DoD information identifying the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory over an unapproved, unsecure network approximately 2 to 4 hours before the execution of those strikes.”
  • “Using a personal cell phone to conduct official business and send nonpublic DoD information through Signal risks potential compromise of sensitive DoD information, which could cause harm to DoD personnel and mission objectives.”
  • “We concluded that the Secretary sent sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone.”
  • The IG noted that the Secretary is the head original classification authority for the Department of Defense, but still concluded that his actions “did not comply with DoD Instruction 8170.01, which prohibits using a personal device for official business and using a nonapproved commercially available messaging application to send nonpublic DoD information.”

    • Let me know if you have any questions.

    See you this evening.

    — Aaron