The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” people familiar with the matter said.....

The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled “SECRET/NOFORN,” people familiar with the matter said.

The “SECRET” classification of Kurilla’s email, which has not previously been reported, denoted that the information was classified at a level at which unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to national security. The “NOFORN” label means it also was not meant for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of close allies of the United States.

In accordance with government regulations, Kurilla sent his sensitive message over a classified system, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, four people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal by the Trump administration......

Such information, before an operation, would generally always be classified to protect the U.S. troops involved, security experts have said. Retired Adm. William McRaven, the Navy SEAL officer who oversaw the raid that killed al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, said in April that Hegseth’s team has not handled the controversy well and that, “clearly, the information broadcast on Signal was classified.”

U.S. troops at all ranks are instructed on how to handle classified information, and service members have faced disciplinary action on numerous occasions for not doing so correctly, sometimes at courts-martial.