Hegseth tells congressional leaders he is weighing release of boat
strike video
[December 10, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional
leaders Tuesday that he was still weighing whether to release the full
video of an attack on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors,
even as he faced intensifying demands from Congress for disclosure.
Hegseth provided a classified briefing for congressional leaders
alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe
at the Capitol. Inside the secure room, Senate Democratic leader Chuck
Schumer asked the defense secretary whether he would allow every member
of Congress to view the video of the attack from September.
Schumer said Hegseth's response was: “We have to study it.”
Lawmakers are demanding a full accounting from the Department of Defense
on the military campaign and the particular attack that killed two
people who were clinging to the wreckage of an initial strike. Legal
experts say that action may have violated the laws governing the use of
deadly military force. The situation has awakened the
Republican-controlled Congress to its oversight role after months of
frustration about the trickle of information from the Pentagon.
Schumer described the briefing as “very unsatisfying” and added that
“Democrats and Republicans had a right to see it, wanted to see it, and
should see it.”
Separately Tuesday, the U.S. Navy admiral who is retiring early from
command of the campaign to destroy vessels allegedly carrying drugs near
Venezuela spoke to key lawmakers overseeing the U.S. military. The
classified video call between Adm. Alvin Holsey, who will be retiring
from U.S. Southern Command in the coming days, and the GOP chair and
ranking Democrat of the Senate Armed Services Committee represented
another determined step by lawmakers to get answers about the operation.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, declined to discuss the specifics of the call, but described
Holsey as a “great public servant.” He also said that the Pentagon is
weighing whether releasing the video would disclose classified
information.
In its annual defense authorization bill, which was crafted by both
Republicans and Democrats, Congress is demanding that the Pentagon turn
over unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing
the attacks. The legislation threatens to withhold a quarter of
Hegseth's travel budget if he refuses.
“There is a growing demand that everyone get a right in the Senate to
see it,” said Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed
Services Committee.
He added that Holsey answered the senators' questions but also said that
“there are still many questions to be answered.” Reed later added that
Holsey did not give a reason for his retirement other than saying it was
a personal decision.
Congress presses for more information
Lawmakers are trying to understand the purpose and parameters of
President Donald Trump's campaign, which has struck 22 boats and killed
at least 87 people since it started in September. Trump has also been
making threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, sending a
fleet of warships near the South American country, including the largest
U.S. aircraft carrier.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf
of Venezuela in what appears to be the closest American warplanes have
come to the country’s airspace since the start of the Trump
administration’s pressure campaign.
Holsey became the leader of U.S. Southern Command just over one year
ago, but in October, Hegseth announced that Holsey would be retiring
early from his post. As commander of U.S. forces in the region, Holsey
oversaw a command structure that has in recent years been mostly focused
on building stability and cooperation across much of the region.
Trump's drug boat campaign, however, has added a new, deadly dynamic to
its mission. Rather than trying to interdict drug-carrying vessels, as
forces like the U.S. Coast Guard have traditionally done, the Trump
administration asserts that the drugs and drug-smugglers are posing a
direct threat to American lives. Officials say they are applying the
same rules as the global war on terror to kill drug smugglers.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth smiles as he walks to a secure room
in the basement of the Capitol to brief lawmakers on how he handled
a military strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat and its crew in
the Caribbean near Venezuela Sept. 2, at the Capitol in Washington,
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Trump this week justified the Sept. 2 strike that killed two
survivors by claiming that the two suspected drug smugglers were
trying to right the part of the boat after it had capsized in the
initial attack. However, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the special
operations commander who ordered the second strike, told lawmakers
in a closed-door briefing last week that he ordered the follow-up
strike to ensure that the cocaine in the boat could not be picked up
later by cartel members.
The entire House Armed Services Committee will also hear from
Bradley next week, said Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the
panel.
“We need an all-member briefing for the House of Representatives,”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told The Associated Press.
Lawmakers want access to boat strike video
For the last several months, the Trump administration has brandished
videos of the strikes — black and white footage of boats exploding
into flames — on social media. But access to the full, unedited
videos has now become a point of contention between the Pentagon and
Congress.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, called it a “little strange” for officials to now claim
that full, unedited video of the strike is classified and cannot be
released even to members of Congress.
“We got a little pushback,” said Rep. Jim Himes the ranking Democrat
on the House Intelligence Committee, who acknowledged potential
concerns over disclosing sources and methods used in the strikes.
“But we said, ‘Look, you’re posting — every time we take a strike
you post it.’”
The Democrats also say that the logic underpinning the entire
operation is deeply problematic.
“They are using expensive, exquisite American military capabilities
to kill people who are the equivalent of corner dealers,” said Sen.
Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat.
Lawmakers are also questioning what intelligence the military is
using to determine whether the boats' cargo is headed for the U.S.
As they have looked closer at the Sept. 2 strike, lawmakers learned
that the destroyed boat was heading south at the time of the attack
and that military intelligence showed it was headed toward another
vessel that was bound for Suriname.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the Republican-controlled
Congress will push back on the Trump administration's campaign. Many
have so far stood behind it, but worry is also growing about the
prospect of war.
House Speaker Mike Johnson missed the classified briefing -- the
only leader to do so, according to two people familiar with the
private session who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Johnson’s
absence was notable from the speaker, who is second in line of
succession to the president, especially as Congress is expected to
have the final say on the military’s use of the nation’s war powers.
War powers resolution vote
A group of senators — three Democrats and one Republican — is also
preparing to force a vote on legislation as soon as next week that
would halt Trump’s ability to use military force against Venezuela
directly without congressional approval.
The senators have already tried unsuccessfully to pass a similar
resolution, but almost all Republicans voted against it. However,
the senators say there is now renewed interest from GOP lawmakers.
“These follow-on strikes of people who are wounded in the ocean is
really against our code of military justice,” said Sen. Rand Paul,
the Kentucky Republican who is sponsoring the legislation. “They are
illegal.”
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Associated Press reporter Ben Finley contributed.
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