Lawmakers from each parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs within the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a printed report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as a part of a Sept. 2 attack.
The lawmakers said they didn’t know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true, and a few Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
“This rises to the extent of a war crime if it’s true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked a few follow-up strike geared toward people now not in a position to fight, said Congress doesn’t have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in each the House and Senate have opened investigations.
“Obviously, if that occurred, that will be very serious and I agree that that will be an illegal act,” Turner said.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday evening while flying back to Washington from Florida, where he celebrated Thanksgiving, confirmed that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. administration says the strikes within the Caribbean are geared toward cartels, a few of which it claims are controlled by Maduro. Trump is also weighing whether to perform strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.
Trump declined to comment on details of the decision, which was first reported by The Latest York Times.
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“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, when asked concerning the call.
The Venezuelan communications ministry didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment concerning the call with Trump.
Turner said there are concerns in Congress concerning the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, however the allegation regarding the Sept. 2 attack “is totally outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there’s an ongoing investigation.”
The comments from lawmakers during news show appearances come because the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. On Saturday, Trump said the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela needs to be regarded as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions on the U.S. pressure on Maduro. Maduro’s government accused Trump of creating a ”colonial threat” and looking for to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.
After the Post’s report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to guard the homeland.”
“Our current operations within the Caribbean are lawful under each U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the very best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.
Trump said on Sunday the administration “will look into” the matter but added, “I wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike.” The president also defended Hegseth.
“Pete said he didn’t order the death of those two men,” Trump said. He added, “And I consider him.”
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will probably be conducting vigorous oversight to find out the facts related to those circumstances.”
That was followed Saturday with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the rating Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement saying the panel was committed to “providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations within the Caribbean.”
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics within the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan motion to collect a full accounting of the operation in query,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., asked concerning the Sept. 2 attack, said Hegseth deserves a likelihood to present his side.
“We must always get to the reality. I don’t think he could be silly enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors because that’s a transparent violation of the law of war,” Bacon said. “So, I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that because it might go against common sense.”
Kaine and Turner appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Bacon was on ABC’s “This Week.”
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