GOP Will Lead Oversight On Reported Order From Pete Hegseth To Kill All Members Of Alleged Drug Vessels

Republican-led Committees in the House and the Senate announced they will conduct respective investigations regarding an alleged order from Defense Secretarty Pete Hegseth to kill all members of an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement along with Democratic counterpart Jack Reed vowing to investigate the reported order.

They claimed to be "aware of recent news report — and the Department of Defense's initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels," and said they will be conducting "vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances."

Likewise, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, including GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, said they are "taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question."

Scrutiny and criticism has mounted since the report. On Saturday, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said Hegseth may have committed a war crime if the reporting is accurate.

In a social media publication, Lieu told Hegseth that he read the DOJ memo exempting military members involved in the deployment in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific from prosecution and nothing in it "or military law, authorizes a second kinetic strike against defenseless survivors."

"If the reports are true, then a war crime was committed. Also there is generally no statute of limitations for war crimes," Lieu added.

The report in question noted that Hegseth ordered that all people aboard the vessel be killed by a U.S. strike in September, prompting the military to conduct a second strike to finish off survivors.

Citing two people with knowledge of the operation, the outlet detailed that a second strike was conducted to kill two survivors of the first strike, which had already destroyed the vessel and killed nine.

"The order was to kill everybody," one of the people said about Hegseth's orders. The strike was the first one of the ongoing military campaign that has so far killed more than 80 people.

Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised Special Operations forces for years, told the outlet that the actions amount to "murder." Ordering the strike when surviving crew members were no longer able to pose a threat "would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime," he added.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell rejected the report, saying the "narrative is completely false." "Ongoing operations to dismantle narcoterrorism and to protect the Homeland from deadly drugs have been a resounding success," he added.

Hegseth has also come out to reject the claims, saying "the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland."

• Democratic Rep. Says Pete Hegseth May Have Committed War Crimes With Reported Order To Finish Off Survivors Of Vessel Strike
• U.S. Military Conducted Second Strike On Alleged Drug Vessel To Ensure All Aboard Were Killed: Report

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