Military personnel manning a U.S. Army command outpost in Iraq found the radio report suspicious. During an operation to hunt suspected al-Qaeda militants, American soldiers involved notified their commanders that they had just killed three detainees whom, they said, had broken free of their restraints and attacked them.

The soldiers had been in combat for months in Samarra, a city about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad, where a vicious insurgency had taken hold. The detainees’ deaths on May 9, 2006, triggered an extensive U.S. military investigation, leading to courts-martial, two murder convictions, and a career-ending letter of reprimand for Col. Michael Steele, the troops’ brigade commander. In the end, those found guilty acknowledged under oath that they had lied about the detainees’ escape, and instead set them loose and shot them in the back as they ran away.

“Every single person that was involved in that has had an indelible mark left on them,” Steele told the Washington Post in an interview. He attributed the murders to “guys that decided to go rogue.”

The cases have taken on new significance with President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary. Hegseth was a 26-year-old lieutenant in the Army National Guard when he joined that unit, the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, in summer 2005 just ahead of its deployment. Though he was not present during the murders and had no role in them, the incident was formative, other soldiers said, with men he grew to care about ensnared in the case.

This account of Hegseth’s deployment to Iraq is based on interviews with eight people familiar with that time in his life, along with a review of military documents and past media accounts. Taken together, a picture emerges of a potential secretary of defense who witnessed an extended inquiry into military misconduct that upended the lives of colleagues and mentors. The experience left soldiers not directly involved in the murders convinced that the Army had turned on them, too, those involved said.

Hegseth and representatives for the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment. Some people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a high-profile potential nomination that is embroiled in controversy for other reasons. In recent days, The Post and other news organizations have revealed that Hegseth was investigated by police in 2017 for an alleged sexual assault. His lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, has said that the encounter was consensual and that Hegseth was not charged with the crime, though he later paid to settle the matter with the accuser.

Hegseth, 44, has rarely, if ever, mentioned the Iraq cases publicly, and has shifted in the years since from being an ardent supporter of the 2007 surge of U.S. forces in Iraq to questioning the entire point of the war. Over time, he also took on an increasingly populist tone in defense of U.S. troops accused of war crimes, arguing that the military put unreasonable restrictions on the rules of engagement that govern how American soldiers fight.

His appearances on the cable news show “Fox & Friends Weekend” captured the attention of then-President Donald Trump, leading to phone calls between them, people familiar with the matter said. Hegseth took particular interest in three prosecutions: those of Army officers Clint Lorance and Mathew Golsteyn for alleged murders in Afghanistan, and Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who beat a murder charge but was punished for staging a photo with an Islamic State fighter’s corpse in Iraq.

Undocumented Minnesotans continue to apply for state driver’s licenses even as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to re-enter the White House in January and deliver on promises to increase deportations.

Minnesota’s Driver’s License For All law went into effect last October, making Minnesota the 21st state or U.S. territory to allow undocumented people to legally operate a vehicle. Many immigrants at a recent class about how to apply for a license said they’re taking a wait-and-see approach to the Trump administration.

They’re aware of his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants but say it’s still speculation at this point. Without permanent legal status, they say, they’re always at risk in the United States, no matter who is in the White House. The licenses are also available to people who are in the country legally but don’t have permanent residency, such as immigrants who have been granted Temporary Protected Status.

“We think that if we are on a good path, it won’t affect us,” Mayreli, a Venezuelan immigrant, said of Trump’s plans.

Mayreli, who is being identified by her first name only because of her immigration status, said most immigrants from her country are professionals who just want to work, and that obtaining a driver’s license and identification card are important steps. Trump’s campaign promises are scary, she said, but she believes he’ll mostly target criminals.

She took the driver’s license exam a week after the election.

The state does not share information about licensed drivers with federal immigration authorities without a court order, the Minnesota Drivers and Vehicle Services (DVS) office said in a statement to Sahan Journal.

“We only share data as allowed or required by law,” the statement said. “We will only share information if required by a state or federal judge order after exhausting all legal means.”

Border Patrol Agent Daniel Huguley found a backpack left by a migrant in his vehicle and discovered diapers and children’s clothes, prompting him and others to go back out and search.

By then, Rajinder Pal Singh of California, who was later convicted in another smuggling case, said he was receiving phone calls from a counterpart in Canada. They were from Fenil Patel, who had arranged the migrants’ passage to the border from the Manitoba side and has since been charged by Indian authorities.

Singh testified that Patel said a family of four migrants in the group had called him during their walk to the border to say they were too cold to continue, but he never followed through on his assurance that he would pick them up or send someone else.

Prosecutors say that Shand and Harshkumar Patel never called emergency services, either. It wasn’t until at least 3:30 p.m. that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered the frozen bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife Vaishaliben, 37; their daughter Vihangi, 11; and their son Dharmik, 3, just yards from the border.