Lawyers see video of second strike on boat survivors, say Admiral testified there was no order killing

Washington – Military officials showed video sellers of Second strike on Venezuelan medicine boat Behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Thursday, he testified that there was no order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegs to release survivors of the attack, multiple law enforcement officials said.

Gen. Dan Cane, chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, head of special commands, introduced the leaders of the armed services and the senate. Domestic briefings focus on the Trump administration’s campaign to crack down on suspected drug-trafficking boats off the coast of South America, including September 2 Strike That has become a flashpoint in Congress.

The Pentagon has been under fire since it was reported in the Washington Post that a second missile killed two survivors of the first strike. Hegseth said the decision to hit the boat was made again by Bradley, who was leading the operation. The survivors were trying to get back on the boat before it hit a second time, a source familiar with the matter said I said CBS News on Wednesday.

Gop Sen. Tom Cotton, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Him, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, spoke to reporters after the demands. Both said that Bradley told them that he was not brought so as not to leave the survivors. The first post report quoted an anonymous source as saying that, before the first strike, Hegseth verbally ordered everyone on board to be evacuated. “The plan was to kill everyone,” the Post story quoted the source as saying. Hegseth has opened a mail account.

Lawmakers also said they were shown video of the second attack, which was not made public. Herheres, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters after the briefing that “what I saw in that room is one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”

“You have two people in clear distress with no means of lubrication, with a damaged ship, killed by the United States,” he said.

“Any American who sees the video that I saw will see the United States attacking the shipwrecked sailors — the bad guys, the bad guys who attacked, but they attacked the shipwrecked sailors,” he said. “Now there is a complete set of content that the Admiral explained – yes, they were carrying drugs. People were not in a position to continue their work in any way.

President Trump said Wednesday he would support releasing the footage.

Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, repeated the video’s name after his briefing, saying he “didn’t see anything disturbing about it.”

Ukotiti said that the fourth incident on September 2 was ‘completely authorized and necessary, and they were exactly what we expect our military commanders to do. “

“I saw two survivors trying to hijack a drug boat that was arrested in the United States so they could deal with other Norco-terrorist boats in their area,” Cotton said.

The strike has sparked bipartisan concerns from lawmakers and vows to investigate. Although the administration argued the subsequent strike was legal and justified, members of Congress and experts are legal he questioned its authenticitywith accusations from some Democrats to form a War crimes If the second strike targets the survivors.

The strike was the first of the administration’s campaign against drug traffickers in the Southern Hemisphere, which has now grown to more than 20 strikes and killed more than 80 people. These attacks attracted the scrutiny of lawmakers even before the postal report, because the administration is handling them without authorization from Congress. The administration has argued against the legal authority to carry out the strikes because it singles out drug cartels as terrorist organizations and the US military are not involved.

Alan He and Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.