Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is demanding full transparency from the Pentagon after a recent military strike reportedly killed shipwrecked survivors at sea, calling the action both unlawful and morally unacceptable.
Schiff Demands Pentagon Release Video
On Sunday, Schiff posted on X, criticized the killing as "a textbook violation of the laws of war" and called on the Pentagon to release the full video.
"If Hegseth is so proud of the killing of these survivors, the Pentagon should release the full video, just like they have with other boat strikes," he said.
Pentagon Accountability And Public Transparency Urged By Lawmaker
When asked by an NBC News reporter, “Do you believe these boat strikes are legal?“
Schiff responded, “No, I don’t. They’re unlawful, they’re unconstitutional, and killing two people who are shipwrecked at sea is also morally repugnant."
He stressed that the public deserves full transparency to judge the military's actions.
Schiff also criticized comments reportedly made by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), dismissing the importance of the survivors' condition.
"whether they were signaling their distress and asking for rescue or what they were doing. It does matter,” he said.
“For us to be engaged in this kind of unauthorized campaign of extrajudicial killing couldn’t be, I think, a more clear violation of the law," he added.
Pentagon Faces Backlash Over Boat Strike Video
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also pushed for public transparency by urging the Pentagon to release the boat strike video.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amplified Cotton's defense of the strikes as necessary to destroy cartel drug boats and their cargo.
Hegseth also strongly defended the Trump administration's counter-drug operations, backed a follow-up strike that killed survivors and said he would have made the same decision himself.
He later said he did not watch the second strike live and described the aftermath as "fog of war," as bipartisan lawmakers continued scrutinizing the incident for potential war crimes.
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Photo Courtesy: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com
