WASHINGTON — On Sunday, lawmakers from both political parties expressed their support for congressional reviews concerning U.S. military strikes on vessels suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. This comes in response to a report suggesting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly gave a verbal command to kill all crew members during a September 2 attack.
While the legislators admitted they were unsure about the accuracy of the report published by the Washington Post last week, some Republicans expressed skepticism. However, they all agreed that targeting survivors of an initial missile strike raises significant legal issues.
“If true, this could amount to a war crime,” stated Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.
Republican Representative Mike Turner of Ohio, when questioned about potential follow-up strikes on those unable to defend themselves, mentioned that Congress lacks evidence of such events occurring. He highlighted that both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have initiated investigations into the matter.
“If such actions took place, they would be extremely serious and unquestionably illegal,” Turner commented.
Meanwhile, on Sunday evening, President Donald Trump confirmed that he had recently engaged in a conversation with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. This announcement was made while Trump was returning to Washington from Florida, where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday.
The U.S. administration says the strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Maduro. Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.
Trump declined to comment on details of the call, which was first reported by The New York Times.
“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, when asked about the call.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the call with Trump.
Turner said there are concerns in Congress about the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, but the allegation regarding the Sept. 2 attack “is completely outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation.”
The comments from lawmakers during news show appearances come as the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. On Saturday, Trump said the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Maduro. Maduro’s government accused Trump of making a “colonial threat” and seeking 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 protect the homeland.”
“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict-and approved by the 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 did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. He added, “And I believe 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 be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
That was followed Saturday with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the ranking 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 in the Caribbean.”
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., asked about the Sept. 2 attack, said Hegseth deserves a chance to present his side.
“We should get to the truth. I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors because that’s a clear violation of the law of war,” Bacon said. “So, I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that because it would go against common sense.”
Kaine and Turner appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Bacon was on ABC’s “This Week.”
.
