OUR PICKSPentagon Report: Hegseth Risked Endangering Troops with Signal Messages | How U.S. Export Controls Risk Undermining Biosecurity | Chatbots Are Surprisingly Effective at Swaying Voters, and more

Pentagon Report: Hegseth Risked Endangering Troops with Signal Messages  (Shane Harris et al., The Atlantic)
The inspector general finds that the defense secretary violated his department’s policies.

“Signalgate” Report Contradicts Hegseth’s Claim of “Total Exoneration”  (Dan Lamothe, Washington Post)
The defense secretary’s actions “created a risk to operational security,” according to an independent assessment by the Pentagon’s inspector general.

Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal Record  (Albert Sun, New York Times)
The federal deployments that have swept through major cities as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown have led to thousands of arrests. But they have been less effective at apprehending immigrants with a criminal record than more routine operations elsewhere, new data shows.
Less than 30 percent of the people arrested in any of these operations had been convicted of a crime, an analysis of the data shows, and a very small share had been convicted of a violent crime. The most common non-violent convictions were for driving under the influence and other traffic offenses.

Trump’s Boat Strikes Could Make the Cartel Problem Worse  (Marie-Rose Sheinerman and Missy Ryan, The Atlantic)
The administration’s lethal strikes on suspected traffickers may compromise, not advance, America’s battle against cartels.

How U.S. Export Controls Risk Undermining Biosecurity  (Doni Bloomfield, Joe Khawam, and Tim Schnabel, Lawfare)
The regulations intended to prevent bioweapons proliferation may be increasing bioweapon risks.

Kennedy’s Methodical 2-Decade Quest to Dismantle Vaccine Policy  (Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Christina Jewett, New York Times)
The health secretary has walled himself off from government scientists and empowered fellow activists to pursue his vaccine agenda.

F5, SolarWinds, and the Lethargy of the FAR Council  (Nick Leiserson, Lawfare)
Stopping procurement regulation vaporware is key for the U.S. government to see meaningful gains from security-by-demand.

Chatbots Are Surprisingly Effective at Swaying Voters  (Matteo Wong, The Atlantic)
Could ChatGPT secretly tell you how to cast your ballot?

A Startup Says It Has Found a Hidden Source of Geothermal Energy  (Molly Taft, Wired)
Zanskar uses AI to identify hidden geothermal systems—and claims it has found one that could fuel a power plant, the first such discovery by industry in decades.