Key Democrat Says Subpoena on the Table to Compel Release of ‘Double Tap’ Boat Strike

Democrats on Sunday called for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to release the video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat in early September, with one key senator suggesting that they may resort to a subpoena.

“We’ve got to get to the bottom of this. This doesn’t appear to be consistent with our morals, with the way the U.S. Department of Defense has conducted itself,” Sen. Mark Kelly said on MS NOW. “I served in the Navy for 25 years, I’ve been in combat, I’ve sunk two ships myself. I’ve got a lot of questions about how this operation is being conducted.”

When asked whether he and other lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees — both of which Kelly serves on — would be willing to subpoena the Defense Department for the footage, he said, “We can do that.”

“I’ve talked to the chairman of the committee about this already,” Kelly added.

Congress has called for more stringent congressional oversight of the Trump administration’s recent attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Since reporting from The Washington Post that Trump administration officials ordered a second strike intended to kill survivors of a September attack, the Defense Department has attempted to distance Hegseth from the decision. The defense secretary and others have suggested that the final order came from Special Operations Commander Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, who top administration officials have strongly backed in recent days.

Hegseth, speaking at a defense forum on Saturday, said his department was reviewing the footage — and refused to commit that it would be made public.

“Whatever we were to decide to release, we’d have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now,” Hegseth said.

Trump has said he has “no problem” with releasing the full video. “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release,” he said last week.

The comments came on the heels of a senate briefing Friday with Admiral Bradley, who shared details on the strike with leadership on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. A number of Democrats have since called for the full video to be released.

Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Armed Services Committee and one of the few lawmakers who has seen the footage, told NOTUS the footage was “disturbing.”

“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Rep. Jim Himes, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters after the briefing.

“Any American who sees the video that I saw will see the United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors — bad guys, bad guys, but attacking shipwrecked sailors,” he added. “Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in the position to continue their mission in any way.”

Speaking Sunday to CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Himes said “I think it’s really important that people see what it looks like when the full force of the United States military is turned on two guys who are clinging to a piece of wood and about to go under, just so that they have sort of a visceral feel for what it is that we’re doing.”

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith, speaking to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, said that the Trump administration has been “pretty clear” that it does not want the video published.

“It seems pretty clear they don’t want to release this video because they don’t want people to see it, because it’s very, very difficult to justify,” Smith said.

In an interview with “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who was briefed on the video as chair of the Intelligence committee, maintained his argument that the strikes were lawful.

When asked if he wants footage of the incident to be released, Cotton replied: “I personally don’t have any problem with it. It’s not gruesome. I didn’t find it distressing or disturbing.”

The strikes, carried out without any supporting evidence, have killed 87 people in 11 attacks since early September.

Over the weekend Hegseth also said all members of the boat were members of a military target list, making them valid targets.

“From what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike,” he said on Saturday. “I would have made the same call myself.”

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that while he has yet to see the footage, a second strike to kill survivors is not only unlawful but “morally repugnant.”

“If the Pentagon, or the defense secretary, is so proud of what they’re doing, let the American people see that video,” Schiff said on Sunday. “Let the American people see two people standing on a capsized boat – and deliberately killed, and decide for themselves whether they’re proud of what their country is doing.”

“I can’t imagine people would be proud of that.”