As the fallout grows over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s alleged order to “kill” all survivors of a strike on a suspected drug-carrying sea vessel, recent developments suggest that a growing number of Republican lawmakers may be willing to turn on the top Trump official and impeach him, Zeteo reported Tuesday.
According to a whistleblower, Hegseth allegedly ordered on Sept. 2 a follow-up strike on a sea vessel off of Trinidad’s coast, a strike designed to kill two survivors of an initial attack who were observed clinging to the wreckage.
If proven, experts say it would be a blatant violation of international law and a potential war crime.
Hegseth outright denied that he issued the order to kill the survivors — a claim that President Donald Trump said he believed. Should it have actually happened, however, Trump said that he “wouldn’t have wanted a second strike,” and at least one Republican — Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) — said that Hegseth’s order, if true, would constitute an “illegal act.”
And on Monday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said he intended to introduce an “unprecedented bipartisan House Armed Services investigation into this illegal strike,” an announcement that Zeteo reporter Peter Rothpletz argued Tuesday could hint that a larger GOP revolt may be on the horizon.
“One can assume Khanna wouldn’t make such a bold proclamation if at least several of his GOP colleagues on the committee had not already privately agreed to such a bold move,” Rothpletz wrote.
“Secretary Hegseth, I’m afraid you’re about to be introduced to the underside of a bus… Liberal lawmakers like Khanna are right to feel they have a real political opportunity here, even if their leadership team doesn’t yet recognize it.”
Rothpletz went on to argue that Democrats should not allow Hegseth to “wriggle off the hook,” and implored the House Armed Services Committee to “subpoena every last official” to get to the bottom of the allegations. Apparently, Rothpletz wrote, “lawmakers sense blood in the water around ‘Secretary of War Crimes,’” giving rise to the unprecedented defiance of at least one GOP lawmaker, and potentially more.
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