Members of Congress have voiced shock after seeing the “double tap” drone strike on an alleged drug boat which has plunged Pete Hegseth into crisis.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes raised grave concerns after viewing the video of the September 2 boat strikes.
The congressman is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and was among those who were briefed by Admiral Mitch Bradley and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine on Thursday.
During the briefing, the lawmakers viewed the second strike on the alleged drug boat.
“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Himes told reporters afterward.
“You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, the destroyed vessel, who are killed by the United States.”
He said the individuals were “bad guys,” but said that anyone who watched the video would see the military “attacking shipwrecked sailors.”
According to Himes, Bradley confirmed the men were carrying drugs but were not in a position to continue their mission “in any way.”
The congressman noted that the admiral confirmed there had been no “kill them all” order, as had been reported. He did not say whether the briefing exonerated Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Bradley and Caine also briefed members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Neither committee Chairman Roger Wicker nor Ranking Member Jack Reed answered questions after coming out of the meeting, but Reed did put out a statement.
“I am deeply disturbed by what I saw this morning,” he said. “The Department of Defense has no choice but to release the complete, unedited footage of the September 2nd strike, as the President has agreed to do.”
President Donald Trump this week said he did not know what the Pentagon had on the strikes, but said he had no problem with releasing it.
Reed said that the briefing confirmed his “worst fears about the nature of the Trump Administration’s military activities, and demonstrates exactly why the Senate Armed Services Committee has repeatedly requested—and been denied—fundamental information, documents, and facts about this operation.”
He vowed it would only be the beginning of the committee’s investigation after he and Wicker previously released a joint statement promising vigorous oversight.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons also said it would be hard to watch the series of videos and “not be troubled by it.”
He said he had more policy questions than ever about the mission and rules of engagement.
Coons said some of what he heard in the briefing gave him reassurances, but he believes there is still a clear lack of justification for the strikes more broadly.
However, Senator Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had a completely different take on Thursday. He called them “righteous strikes.”
“These are narcoterrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans,” Cotton said.
He called the strikes on September 2, “entirely lawful and needful.”
“I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for the United States back over, so they could stay in the fight,” Cotton said.
He suggested that, based on what they had heard in the briefing, there were potentially other narco-terrorist boats in the area coming to their aid.
The Arkansas Republican said he did not see anything disturbing about it when asked about Himes’ comment.
Cotton said if he were Bradley and had been delegated the authority, he would have done the same as the admiral.
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