A high-ranking U.S. Navy admiral who oversaw the “double tap” strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday morning that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not order the second missile that killed survivors on board, in a closed-door briefing.
Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, a respected Navy SEAL officer who leads U.S. Special Operations Command, showed House and Senate members on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees footage of the lethal strikes conducted on September 2 and answered questions.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters the footage was “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”
“You have two individuals in clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, who are killed by the United States,” Himes said.
Bradley’s classified briefing was intended to quell concerns about the strikes amounting to potential “war crimes” and conclude that Hegseth did not give the order for the second strike.
Republican Rep. Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, emerged feeling “confident” in Hegseth.
“I feel confident and have no further questions of Hegseth,” Crawford told CNN.
On Sept. 2 the Trump administration targeted what it claimed was a Venezuelan “narco vessel” in the Caribbean, part of a crackdown that has so far killed more than 80 people in three months.
After the first missile failed to kill everyone aboard, it emerged last week that a second strike was ordered to kill the remaining two survivors.
Hegseth was accused of being a “war criminal” by some on the right and the left after a report in the Washington Post claimed the second strike was a result of his earlier order to “kill everybody,” something he has denied. That caused lawmakers to demand answers on the justification for the second strike.
The defense secretary and White House initially railed against the reporting of a second strike and claimed it was “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory.” But during Monday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the second strike took place and said Bradley ordered it.
Nine people were killed during the first strike, which set the boat on fire, defense officials told the Wall Street Journal. “It took an hour before the survivors were visible on the live feed,” they said.
In deciding whether to launch a second attack, Bradley considered the fact that other “enemy” vessels were close by and reportedly believed they were communicating with other drug-smugglers via radio, according to WSJ.
Bradley was reportedly watching the operation unfold via a live feed, along with Hegseth, but the former Fox News host said this week that he “moved on” to his next meeting before the second strike took place and “did not personally see survivors.”
Senators have said they would like to know why Hegseth stepped out during a critical moment of the mission and where he went.
“I want to see his calendar for that day,” Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine told CNN. “I want to know what meeting he went to. I want to know how long he was, where he was.”
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina added that “if someone knowingly launched a second missile at that boat, which led to the deaths of the other two, then they have to be held accountable.”
Hegseth hailed Bradley an “American hero” in a post on X Monday and backed him again during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” Hegseth said.
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