Full video showing follow-up strike on alleged drug boat won’t be released to the public, Hegseth says

By Haley Britzky, Alison Main, Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — The Pentagon will not release to the public the full video of the US military’s strike on an alleged drug boat on September 2, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said.

The attack, which included a follow-up strike that killed two crew members who survived an initial strike, has been at the center of a debate over the legality of the US military’s ongoing campaign in the Caribbean.

“In keeping with longstanding 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 on Capitol Hill, where he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were briefing lawmakers Tuesday.

The House and Senate Armed Services committees and appropriate committees, he said, “will see it, but not the general public.”

The Trump administration publicly released a clip of the video of the initial strike on the suspected drug boat but not of the follow-up strike, which has been shown to members of Congress behind closed doors.

The comment from Hegseth is the most definitive to date on how he plans to publicly address the controversy. Trump ultimately laid the decision on whether to release the footage at the feet of his defense secretary, who had previously said whether to release the video was under review.

President Donald Trump, for his part, initially said he would have “no problem” with releasing the video, before denying just days later that he had made those comments. Pressed on the matter earlier this month, the president previously told reporters decision would be Hegseth’s. “Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me,” he said at the time.

Top lawmakers from both parties have said they support the release of the full video.

Lawmakers leave briefing unsatisfied

Senate Democrats left a briefing with top Trump administration officials on Tuesday frustrated that they were not shown the unedited video of the September 2 strike, and calling for it to be released to the wider public.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters he had demanded Hegseth allow all senators to view the strike video in a classified setting, but the Pentagon chief refused.

Every American, the top Democrat argued, should be able to view an “appropriate version” of the video, adding that he found the video “deeply troubling” when he saw it last week.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for a congressional subpoena for the video, as well as all documentation on the strikes, which have received bipartisan scrutiny.

“The American people need and deserve to see these videos. There was, in effect, no specific justification for whatever withholding is occurring, and the failure to provide them, I think, undermines the trust and credibility of this entire operation,” he said.

California Sen. Adam Schiff, meanwhile, told reporters he plans ask the Senate to unanimously agree to releasing the video to all of Congress and to the American public.

“I found the legal explanations and the strategic explanations incoherent, but I think American people should see this video, and all members of Congress should have that opportunity,” he said.

Ultimately, the briefing felt rushed, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said.

“They’re checking a box, but they clearly wanted to get out of there before they had to answer any actual, difficult questions,” he told reporters.

Murphy continued, “That’s the shortest briefing I’ve ever been a part of in my time in the Senate. It was 50 minutes, there was time for a handful of Senate questions. I think maybe total of three Democrats were able to speak, and then they ran for the hills.”

Some Republicans emerged from the closed-door briefing in support of releasing the full footage.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who has been sharply critical of the strikes, said he is “for everyone seeing the video – not just the Senate, but the American public should see the video.” He noted that he has not seen it yet either.

Paul said Hegseth and Rubio did not provide evidence there were weapons in the boats. “I heard nothing to contradict — one of my criticisms has been that there really isn’t a legal or a moral justification for killing unarmed people,” he said. “And I’ve heard nothing to contradict my previous assertion that these people were unarmed.”

While he suggested that he doesn’t think “most Americans give a damn about the video,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, said he would “like all of us to see it. Most Americans want to know what’s going to happen next.”

“You know, the least of my concerns is this frigging video. Release it. Make your own decisions. This is lawful,” he said.

The US military conducted its latest strikes on Monday against three alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight crew members. So far at least 95 people have been killed in the campaign.

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CNN’s Ellis Kim and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.