US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has renewed his call for Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to release the full footage of the 2 September US boat strikes in the Caribbean, warning that continued secrecy risks eroding public trust and exposing service members to legal jeopardy.
"It's been almost a week since a report came out saying Secretary Hegseth potentially ordered the indiscriminate killings of survivors clinging to a vessel in the Caribbean, and we still, still do not know the truth, because Pete Hegseth has not released the full tapes of the strike," Schumer said on the Senate floor.
He criticised Hegseth for refusing to disclose complete video of the operation, which targeted a boat off Venezuela accused of involvement in drug trafficking.
Washington has not released evidence to support the claim.
"It’s an incredibly serious matter. It’s about the safety of our troops," Schumer said, noting that firing on survivors in the water could constitute a violation of the rules of war.
"This is an incident that could expose our members of the armed forces to legal consequences, and yet the American public and the Congress are still not hearing the basic facts."
'Fog of war'
Schumer said Hegseth’s explanation of events had shifted repeatedly.
"The day after the boat strikes, Hegseth said on Fox News he watched the entire operation live," he said.
"He told us in person that he was in the room, that he was part of the operation, but then yesterday, he totally reversed himself and said he didn’t see the second strike everyone’s wondering about."
Hegseth said Tuesday that he had left the operations centre midway through the mission and did not know a second strike had occurred, attributing the contradiction to "the fog of war."
Schumer questioned that explanation.
"What could have been possibly more important? … Secretary Hegseth went missing for two hours during a military strike against an alleged drug trafficker or traffickers. What is Secretary Hegseth hiding? Why does his story keep changing? Why won't he release the tapes?"
Hegseth told a Cabinet meeting that he "didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours" and had "moved on to my next meeting."
He also said he did not see any survivors from the initial strike.
Several Republican lawmakers have joined Democrats in calling for the release of the footage.
