Hegseth tells congressional leaders he is weighing release of boat strike video

WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders Tuesday that he was still weighing whether to release the full video of an attack on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors, even as he faced intensifying demands from Congress for disclosure.

Hegseth provided a classified briefing for congressional leaders alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe at the Capitol. Inside the secure room, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer asked the defense secretary whether he would allow every member of Congress to view the video of the attack from September.

Schumer said Hegseth’s response was: “We have to study it.”

Lawmakers are demanding a full accounting from the Department of Defense on the military campaign and the particular attack that killed two people who were clinging to the wreckage of an initial strike. Legal experts say that action may have violated the laws governing the use of deadly military force. The situation has awakened the Republican-controlled Congress to its oversight role after months of frustration about the trickle of information from the Pentagon.

Schumer described the briefing as “very unsatisfying” and added that “Democrats and Republicans had a right to see it, wanted to see it, and should see it.”

Separately Tuesday, the U.S. Navy admiral who is retiring early from command of the campaign to destroy vessels allegedly carrying drugs near Venezuela spoke to key lawmakers overseeing the U.S. military. The classified video call between Adm. Alvin Holsey, who will be retiring from U.S. Southern Command in the coming days, and the GOP chair and ranking Democrat of the Senate Armed Services Committee represented another determined step by lawmakers to get answers about the operation.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, declined to discuss the specifics of the call, but described Holsey as a “great public servant.” He also said that the Pentagon is weighing whether releasing the video would disclose classified information.

In its annual defense authorization bill, which was crafted by both Republicans and Democrats, Congress is demanding that the Pentagon turn over unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing the attacks. The legislation threatens to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget if he refuses.

“There is a growing demand that everyone get a right in the Senate to see it,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He added that Holsey answered the senators’ questions but also said that “there are still many questions to be answered.” Reed later added that Holsey did not give a reason for his retirement other than saying it was a personal decision.

Lawmakers are trying to understand the purpose and parameters of President Donald Trump’s campaign, which has struck 22 boats and killed at least 87 people since it started in September. Trump has also been making threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, sending a fleet of warships near the South American country, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appears to be the closest American warplanes have come to the country’s airspace since the start of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign.

Holsey became the leader of U.S. Southern Command just over one year ago, but in October, Hegseth announced that Holsey would be retiring early from his post. As commander of U.S. forces in the region, Holsey oversaw a command structure that has in recent years been mostly focused on building stability and cooperation across much of the region.

Trump’s drug boat campaign, however, has added a new, deadly dynamic to its mission. Rather than trying to interdict drug-carrying vessels, as forces like the U.S. Coast Guard have traditionally done, the Trump administration asserts that the drugs and drug-smugglers are posing a direct threat to American lives. Officials say they are applying the same rules as the global war on terror to kill drug smugglers.

Trump this week justified the Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors by claiming that the two suspected drug smugglers were trying to right the part of the boat after it had capsized in the initial attack. However, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the special operations commander who ordered the second strike, told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing last week that he ordered the follow-up strike to ensure that the cocaine in the boat could not be picked up later by cartel members.

The entire House Armed Services Committee will also hear from Bradley next week, said Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the panel.

“We need an all-member briefing for the House of Representatives,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told The Associated Press.

For the last several months, the Trump administration has brandished videos of the strikes – black and white footage of boats exploding into flames – on social media. But access to the full, unedited videos has now become a point of contention between the Pentagon and Congress.

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called it a “little strange” for officials to now claim that full, unedited video of the strike is classified and cannot be released even to members of Congress.

“We got a little pushback,” said Rep. Jim Himes the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who acknowledged potential concerns over disclosing sources and methods used in the strikes. “But we said, ‘Look, you’re posting – every time we take a strike you post it.'”

The Democrats also say that the logic underpinning the entire operation is deeply problematic.

“They are using expensive, exquisite American military capabilities to kill people who are the equivalent of corner dealers,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat.

Lawmakers are also questioning what intelligence the military is using to determine whether the boats’ cargo is headed for the U.S. As they have looked closer at the Sept. 2 strike, lawmakers learned that the destroyed boat was heading south at the time of the attack and that military intelligence showed it was headed toward another vessel that was bound for Suriname.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the Republican-controlled Congress will push back on the Trump administration’s campaign. Many have so far stood behind it, but worry is also growing about the prospect of war.

House Speaker Mike Johnson missed the classified briefing — the only leader to do so, according to two people familiar with the private session who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Johnson’s absence was notable from the speaker, who is second in line of succession to the president, especially as Congress is expected to have the final say on the military’s use of the nation’s war powers.

A group of senators – three Democrats and one Republican – is also preparing to force a vote on legislation as soon as next week that would halt Trump’s ability to use military force against Venezuela directly without congressional approval.

The senators have already tried unsuccessfully to pass a similar resolution, but almost all Republicans voted against it. However, the senators say there is now renewed interest from GOP lawmakers.

“These follow-on strikes of people who are wounded in the ocean is really against our code of military justice,” said Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who is sponsoring the legislation. “They are illegal.”

___

Associated Press reporter Ben Finley contributed.