Congressional and Pentagon officials say the Trump administration is attempting to shield Pete Hegseth from responsibility for a “second attack” that killed survivors on an alleged drug boat by scapegoating the U.S. Navy admiral.
White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt on Monday explicitly named Admiral Frank M. Bradley as the officer who “directed the engagement,” shielding Pentagon Secretary Hegseth from accountability despite a Washington Post report that he ordered the deaths of everyone on the boat.
“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to execute these kinetic strikes,” Leavitt said. He added, “Adam Bradley acted well within his authority and within the law to ensure that the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States was eliminated.”
The White House statement came after Donald Trump said on Sunday that he “doesn’t want this to happen – not another attack” when asked about the incident and claimed that Hegseth had told him “he did not order the death of those two people”. The president added: “And I believe him.”
The administration’s apparent effort to remove Hegseth from the operation has not fallen on the radar of some elected officials.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said, “He is selling out Admiral Bradley and chilling the spine of his chain of command, who now know their boss will sell him out.” “A Case Study on How Not to Lead.”
The White House’s legal justification for the attacks, outlined in a classified Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion reviewed by the Guardian, treats the operation as targeting cocaine rather than people – meaning anyone killed on the ship should be considered enemy casualties or collateral damage rather than murder victims.
This argument contrasts sharply with Trump’s public narrative that the strikes are an effort to prevent overdose deaths rather than an attack on an object that finances the war.
Bradley will provide a classified briefing to lawmakers who oversee the military on Thursday. A bipartisan investigation has been launched over reports that Hegseth issued a verbal order in September to attack the ship and, according to the Washington Post, to “kill everyone on board.”
Democrats have said the charges, first reported by the Washington Post last week, could amount to war crimes, and Republicans have also expressed concerns about the legality of the Sept. 2 attack.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have begun investigations into recent U.S. military attacks on ships in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
In his comments to reporters on Monday, Levitt did not dispute the Washington Post’s report that there were survivors after the initial attack.
Hegseth posted late Monday, simultaneously praising the admiral and pointing responsibility in his direction: “Adm. Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and he has my 100% support. I stand with him and the combat decisions he made – on the September 2 mission and all others since.”
A month after the attack, Bradley was promoted from commander of Joint Special Operations Command to commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
Concerns remain in Congress over the Trump administration’s military strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats, but the details of this follow-up attack stunned many lawmakers in both parties and raised sharp questions about the legality of the strikes and overall strategy in the region, particularly toward Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical. Nevertheless, he said the alleged attack on survivors of the initial missile strike raised serious concerns and required further investigation.
Leavitt said Hegseth had spoken to members of Congress who may have expressed some concerns about the reports over the weekend.
Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke over the weekend with the two Republicans and two Democratic lawmakers who lead the Senate and House Armed Services committees. He reiterated “his confidence and trust in the experienced commanders at every level,” Kaine’s office said in a statement.
The statement said the call was focused on “addressing the intent and legitimacy of the mission to disrupt illicit trafficking networks that threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday broadly defended the operations, reiterating the Trump administration’s position that they were necessary to stem the flow of illegal narcotics into the US.
Thune said congressional committees would look into what happened. “I don’t think you would want to draw any conclusions or conclusions until you have all the facts,” he said of the September 2 strike. “We’ll see where they take us.”
Following the Post’s report, Hegseth said on Friday that “fake news is creating more fabricated, inflammatory and defamatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to defend the homeland”.
“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, all actions are in compliance with the law of armed conflict – and are approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Hegseth a “national embarrassment” over his response to critics. Schumer demanded that Hegseth release video of the strike and testify under oath about what happened.
Mississippi’s Republican senator, Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pledged that his panel’s investigation would be “based on the numbers”.
“We will find out the ground truth,” he said, adding that the implications of the report were “serious allegations”.
The September 2 attack was one of a series carried out by the US military in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since Trump ordered the build-up of a fleet of warships, including the largest US aircraft carrier, near Venezuela. More than 80 people were killed in these attacks.
Chaos surrounds Hegseth, who renames himself “Secretary of War” in his first year on the job. He was ousted for sharing sensitive military information about upcoming attacks in Yemen on the messaging app Signal, he faced internal feuds among his senior staff, and he encouraged a distraction-driven hunt for leakers, leading to the firing of several top aides.
Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyett – a Trump loyalist – wrote in April that the department was experiencing “complete chaos” and “complete meltdown”, suggesting Trump should consider removing Hegseth.
Trump has repeatedly defended Hegseth this week, saying he is “doing a great job”.
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