AG Bondi indicates investigation into military operation breach unlikely

Attorney General Pam Bondi signaled that there was unlikely to be a criminal investigation into the sharing of military operation details in an unsecured text group, declaring that the specifics of when fighter jets would depart and when bombs would fall were “not classified,” reported The New York Times.

Ms. Bondi, speaking at a news conference in Virginia, was asked about the public debate surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he sent details of a coming attack on rebels in Yemen to senior administration officials in a Signal group chat that accidentally included a magazine editor.

“It was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released,” Ms. Bondi said, while praising the military operation that ensued.

“What we should be talking about is it was a very successful mission,” she said, before quickly accusing Democrats from previous administrations of mishandling classified information.

“If you want to talk about classified information, talk about what was in Hillary Clinton’s home,” she said. “Talk about the classified documents in Joe Biden’s garage, that Hunter Biden had access to.”

The Justice Department opened investigations into Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Biden in those instances, but neither ultimately faced criminal charges. She did not mention the prosecution of Donald J. Trump over his handling of classified documents after his first term in office — a case that was ultimately abandoned when he won a second term.

In this case, Ms. Bondi seemed to be ruling out any similar investigation to determine all the facts.

Dating back to at least the Reagan administration, the government has considered the details of “military plans, weapons or operations” to be classified.

The F.B.I., along with the Justice Department, could still investigate the matter, but agents and prosecutors typically do not pursue cases if the information is not classified.

Under the Espionage Act, it is possible for people to be charged with crimes for mishandling national defense information that is not classified, but such prosecutions are very rare.

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