Hegseth says he won’t release the full boat strike video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday refused a bipartisan congressional demand that the Pentagon release footage of an airstrike that killed survivors of the first attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

“In keeping with longstanding war policy, the policy of the Department of Defense, of course we’re not going to release that top-secret, complete, unedited video to the general public,” Hegseth said after a classified briefing with senators. “Appropriate committees will see it, but not the general public [public].”

Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top military officials briefed the full Senate and House on Tuesday morning about the Trump administration’s efforts in Latin America. Lawmakers have raised concerns about the administration’s legal justification for the strike, which has killed more than 90 people, a military operation not authorized by Congress.

But while top leaders in both chambers have viewed the footage, including Tuesday’s closed-door briefing, many in the House and Senate have not.

“The administration came into this briefing empty-handed,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who urged the entire chamber to look into the attack. “And if they can’t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues going on in the Caribbean? Every senator is entitled to see that.”

Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), an Armed Services Committee member, argued after the House briefing that the Pentagon should release the video “to the public,” although he expressed support for the administration’s actions against drug gangs. Members of the Senate and House Armed Services panels will watch the video on Wednesday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) later told reporters that all senators should be allowed to see the video. She joined Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Democrats in backing a failed Nov. 6 war powers resolution aimed at preventing Trump from taking military action against Venezuela.

“It’s important that we be able to assess it individually and then make a determination,” she said.

Democrats, who have been pressing Congress to more deeply investigate the strike and its legitimacy, were fired up by the administration’s response.

“Nothing has changed,” said Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee of Virginia. “They’re trying to run the clock in terms of closing the day to the rest of the senators so the Senate doesn’t see it before we break for recess.”

Several Republican lawmakers said they received a detailed explanation of the process for each strike and that it mirrored the Obama administration’s process for targeting al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Democrats largely protested that the briefing did not clarify their strategy for President Donald Trump’s months-long military operation in the Caribbean.

“I find the legal explanations and strategic explanations inconsistent, but I think the American people should watch this video,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement after viewing the video. Schiff will try to pass legislation this week that would require the Pentagon to release the full video to Congress and the public, which would force Republicans to block it on the Senate floor.

In a Vanity Fair interview published Tuesday, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles suggested that the military raids on alleged drug boats were aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.[Trump] Maduro wants to keep flying boats until his uncle cries,” she said. “And people smarter than me say he will.”

But Democrats and some Republicans fear the administration is acting unilaterally and could start a war in the Western Hemisphere. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a senior member of the armed services, renewed his call for Rubio, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Kaine to testify in open hearings on the strikes — and for his Senate colleagues to see the unedited video. “We are all equal in this work,” he said.

“We represent the people across this country, and it’s all our responsibility to hold this administration, and in this case, the Department of Defense, accountable for their actions.”

Sen. Chris Coons (Del.), the chamber’s top Democrat overseeing defense spending, scoffed at the briefing at the official justification for not releasing the video, saying it was “hard to square” with the Pentagon’s practice of routinely posting videos of strikes.

Hegseth, speaking to reporters after the briefing, emphasized the campaign’s focus on eradicating the drug cartels, which “have been poisoning the American people for far too long.”

But the administration has not publicly released its legal reasoning for the unconventional use of the military in law enforcement efforts that typically involve the Coast Guard seizing drug shipments at sea.

“We will engage with Congress … on this counter-drug mission, which is focused on destroying the infrastructure of these terrorist organizations operating in our hemisphere, undermining the security of Americans, killing Americans, poisoning Americans,” Rubio added. “It has been a very successful mission.”