Republican senators are openly questioning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision not to release the full video of a Sept. 2 follow-up strike on two survivors of an initial military strike against a Venezuelan boat, second-guessing a key decision in the Trump administration’s operations in the Caribbean Sea.
The battle between senators and the administration comes at a time when GOP lawmakers find themselves on the defensive over President Trump’s increasingly aggressive actions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“My bias would be to make it available,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, said of the video of the missile strike against two people who survived an initial attack on a Venezuelan boat in September.
“That would be the best thing to do,” he added.
He said making the video available would quiet Democratic accusations that Hegseth is trying to hide an atrocity on the high seas.
Cornyn said keeping the video secret is “how conspiracy theories get spun up,” but he also acknowledged “it’s his call,” referring to Hegseth.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the video should be made widely available to members of Congress, something Hegseth has so far refused to do.
“I think the video should be given to everybody in Congress,” Graham told reporters when asked about whether the Department of Defense should share the video of the follow-up missile strike.
“I don’t think most Americans give a damn about the video. I’d like all of us to see it,” Graham added.
Hegseth told reporters after the briefing Tuesday the video was too sensitive to be shared with the public.
“In keeping with long-standing Department of War policy, Department of Defense policy, of course we’re not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,” Hegseth told reporters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also participated in the classified briefing.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he can understand why Hegseth does not want to release the full unedited video, but he questioned why the video couldn’t be redacted in parts to protect sensitive information.
“I do think that anything that can be edited … that can be released, I think that would be helpful. And the reason I say that is — I have not seen the videos, but those who have … tells me it really vindicates the secretary’s position,” Hawley added.
“If he can find a way to appropriately redact it that would allow the public to see the relevant parts, I think that would be great,” he said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has called on the administration to release the video of the second strike and reiterated his call for the administration to release all the unclassified files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“We got to release the video. Look, we got to get the Epstein files released. We got to get any videos that do not in any way compromise mission integrity down there — just get the stuff out there,” he said.
“Everybody’s trying to think about what’s in it. That’s why it’s so important to get the videos out there,” he said. “I just think we have to be as transparent as possible.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) confronted Hegseth about his refusal to release the videos at Tuesday’s briefing.
He disputed Republicans’ claims the footage exonerates Hegseth or the commander who oversaw the strike, Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, who briefed senior lawmakers about the incident earlier this month.
“This morning, I demanded in front of every senator to Hegseth’s face that he let every senator see the unedited video of what happened on Sept. 2. I’ve seen it. It turns your stomach. It is awful, and people should see it,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday after the briefing.
Senior military officials are scheduled to show the full video of the Sept. 2 strike to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) declined to say Tuesday whether he agreed or disagreed with Hegseth’s decision not to release the video despite calls from Republican and Democratic senators to do so.
“I have … left that up to the Senate Armed Services Committee,” he said Tuesday. “I’m going to trust their judgment on that.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the panel, have pressed the Pentagon to make the video available to their entire committee, according to Senate sources familiar with their efforts.
“There is almost no transparency in this administration, and that reveals itself more than anything on revealing what happened on Sept. 2,” Schumer said after the briefing.
He argued the release of the video is important “to see if we were obeying the law — we’re a law-abiding country.”
“It’s also important because what’s going on in the Caribbean is unprecedented,” he said, warning “it could lead to another endless war.”
Some Republican senators, including Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies, feel they don’t have enough information about Trump’s broader goals related to Venezuela.
“Most Americans want to know what’s going to happen next. I want to know what’s going to happen next. Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be, if it’s not. And if he goes, what’s going to happen next?” Graham told reporters.
“I’d like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes,” he said.
Democrats and some national security experts say the follow-up strike on survivors may constitute a war crime.
Democrats argue Trump hasn’t provided adequate legal justification for the use of lethal force against boats suspected of smuggling drugs — something that traditionally falls under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
