The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a US military operation in September that came under bipartisan scrutiny.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered the justification for the September 2 strike as lawmakers announced a congressional review of US military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. Lawmakers cited a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for the second strike that killed the survivors on the boat.
Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who Leavitt said ordered the second strike, is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers who oversee the military.
Leavitt, in her comments to reporters, did not dispute a Washington Post report that there were survivors after the initial strike. Her explanation came after President Donald Trump said a day earlier that “he didn’t want this – not a second strike” when asked about the incident.
“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” Leavitt said. “Admiral Bradley acted well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure that the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”
Late Monday, Hegseth posted: “Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he made — on the 9/2 mission and all others since.”
A month after the strike, Bradley was promoted from commander of the Joint Special Operations Command to commander of the United States Special Operations Command.
Concern is building in Congress about the Trump administration’s military strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats, but the details of this subsequent strike stunned many lawmakers from both parties and generated tough questions about the legality of the strikes and the overall strategy in the region, and particularly toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical. Still, they said the reported attack by survivors of the initial missile strike raised serious concerns and merited further scrutiny.
The White House weighed in after Trump strongly defended Hegseth on Sunday.
“Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. He added, “And I believe him.”
Leavitt said Hegseth spoke with members of Congress who may have expressed concerns about the reports over the weekend.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke this weekend with the two Republican and two Democratic lawmakers who lead the Senate and House Armed Services committees. He reiterated “his trust and confidence in experienced commanders at every rank,” Caine’s office said in a statement.
The statement added that the call focused on “addressing the intent and legality of the missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.”
Congress wants answers
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday broadly defended the operations, echoing the Trump administration’s position that they are needed to curb the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States.
Thune said that the committees in Congress will look into what happened. “I don’t think you want to draw any conclusions or deductions until you have all the facts,” he said of the Sept. 2 strike. “We’ll see where they lead.”
After the Post report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is fueling more fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”
“Our current operations in the Caribbean are legal under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict – and endorsed by top military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Hegseth a “national embarrassment” because of his response to critics. Schumer demanded that Hegseth release the video of the strike and testify under oath about what happened.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, promised that his panel’s investigation “will be done by the numbers.”
“We will find out the basic truth,” he said, adding that the ramifications of the report were “serious accusations.”
Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, who also called on the administration to release the video of the strike, said its inquiry will begin “with information about what actually happened” from the officers involved.
“If they did nothing wrong, then that video should exonerate them completely. Why not release it?” he asked.
In the House, the Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of his Armed Services Committee, said he was “satisfied” after a conversation with Hegseth about the attack, but that he also wanted to hear from Bradley.
“We will all have clarity on Thursday afternoon,” Rogers said.
The President of Venezuela reacts
Trump met later Monday with his national security team to discuss ongoing operations and potential next steps against Venezuela.
The US administration says the strikes are aimed at drug cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Maduro. Trump is also weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.
Trump confirmed Sunday that he had recently spoken by phone with Maduro but declined to give details about the conversation.
Speaking to supporters in Caracas on Monday, Maduro said US pressure has “tested” the country but Venezuelans are ready to “defend it and lead it on the path of peace.”
“We have lived 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” said Maduro.
The September strike was one of a series carried out by the US military in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as Trump ordered the construction of a fleet of warships near Venezuela, including the largest US aircraft carrier. More than 80 people were killed in the strikes.
The National Assembly of Venezuela announced the launch of an investigation into the lethal attacks. Sunday’s announcement by Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez was the first time a Maduro government official has explicitly acknowledged that Venezuelans have been killed in the months-long US military operation.
Rodríguez, Maduro’s chief negotiator, said that a group of lawmakers will come together to investigate “the serious events that led to the killing of Venezuelans in the waters of the Caribbean Sea.”
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