U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley will provide a classified briefing to key lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday as they investigate a U.S. military attack on a boat allegedly carrying drugs that included a second strike that killed survivors. Bradley, who was commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the Sept. 2 attack, ordered the follow-up strike, the White House said Monday as it defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s conduct following a report from The Washington Post.
Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “satisfied” following a conversation with Hegseth on the attack, but that he also wanted to hear from Bradley.
“We’ll all have clarity on Thursday afternoon,” Rogers said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the second strike was carried out “in self-defense” and “in accordance” with laws governing armed conflict. President Donald Trump was expected to meet with his national security team Monday as bipartisan scrutiny has mounted over a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order in September to strike the vessel.
Democrats have said that the allegations first reported by The Washington Post last week could amount to a war crime, and Republicans have also voiced their concerns about the legality of the Sept. 2 attack in the Caribbean. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have opened investigations into the recent U.S. military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he wants more information on a report that top military officials ordered an attack on survivors of a boat strike, calling the claim potentially “rage bait.” Still, he said “we need to get to the bottom of it,” and that, if true, it would amount to “a violation of an ethical, moral or legal code.”
“If it’s substantiated, whoever made that order needs to get the hell out of Washington,” Tillis said.
Tillis, who announced earlier this year he won’t seek reelection, was a deciding vote in confirming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
