Hegseth clips congressional wings in probe of 'double-tap' Venezuela boat strike

Source: Court House News

WASHINGTON (CN) — The Pentagon will not release unedited video of the reported “double-tap” strike against a boat the military believed to be smuggling drugs and will limit congressional access to the clip, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers during a closed-door briefing Tuesday morning.

Democrats and even some Republicans have said in recent weeks that the Defense Department should allow them to view unaltered footage of the strike, which targeted the survivors of an initial attack. Some have claimed that the move violated the laws of war governing shipwrecked combatants.

But, as lawmakers emerged from their private meeting with Hegseth on Tuesday, they told reporters the top Pentagon official had refused to show them the video.

“The administration came to this briefing emptyhanded,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “That’s the major question that we face — and if they can’t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean?”

Schumer added Hegseth had told lawmakers that providing them unedited video of the Sept. 2 strike would threaten the Pentagon’s sources and methods and that it “might give things away that shouldn’t be.” But the Democratic leader argued that senators would review any footage in the privacy of a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF.

Read more: https://www.courthousenews.com/hegseth-clips-congressional-wings-in-probe-of-double-tap-venezuela-boat-strike/