This story has been updated.
WASHINGTON – As the head of the U.S. Special Operations Command faced closed-door questioning Thursday by senior members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and intelligence panels over a controversial second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, Maryland Democratic lawmakers have denounced the attack as a violation of law.
Navy Adm. Frank Bradley briefed the House Armed Services Committee about his involvement in ordering the second strike in September on a vessel carrying 11 alleged “narco-terrorists.” The revelation of a second strike, which killed two survivors who reportedly clung to the damaged boat, sparked rare bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill and a call for accountability by the Trump administration.
“Let’s be clear: regardless of the Trump administration’s rationale, these attacks were extrajudicial killings amounting either to murder or war crimes,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, told Capital News Service.
Bradley told lawmakers Thursday in a classified briefing that the survivors were “legitimate targets” because they could have been radioing for help and attempting to continue the mission, according to the Wall Street Journal. The attack marked the first of 21 strikes, in which over 80 individuals have been killed off the coast of Venezuela.
“To uphold the integrity of our military and our Constitution – and in keeping with our duty to provide transparency to the American people – we must get answers and pursue accountability for all involved,” Van Hollen said.
The Pentagon reportedly knew about survivors following the initial attack, but continued with the “double-tap,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday. The strikes were all conducted “in defense of vital U.S. national interests and to protect the homeland,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters Tuesday.
“As the White House confirmed yesterday, the decision to restrike the narco-terrorists’ vessel was made by Admiral Bradley, operating under clear and long-standing authorities to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States was eliminated,” Wilson said.
Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation and chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, defended the attacks.
His office released this statement to CNS: “Congressman Harris supports taking decisive action to destroy narco-terrorists who are trafficking deadly poison into the United States. These violent actors, harbored by regimes like Venezuela, pose a direct threat to American lives.”
But Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Maryland, said the strikes represented a “dangerous abuse of power” because they were never officially authorized by Congress.
“It is paramount that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees conduct a rigorous and thorough investigation, unimpeded by the (defense) secretary or anyone from the administration,” Alsobrooks told CNS.
The Trump administration informed several congressional committees in a confidential notice, first received by The New York Times, that a “non-international armed conflict” would be declared against the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan narco-group that the administration designated in January as a foreign terrorist organization.
The notice informed lawmakers that the military may use force in “self-defense,” a consistent Pentagon rationale for the attacks.
Rep. Sarah Elfreth, D-Maryland, voiced concerns in a video on X over the lack of due process in the strikes.
A member of the armed services panel, Elfreth said she and her colleagues are calling for a public hearing to inform the American people and ensure the continued strikes will not spark “a war in South America.”
“They’re putting our service members at real risk for liability here by carrying out or demanding they carry out what could be illegal orders,” Elfreth said. “Thankfully, there has been a bipartisan chorus in both the House and the Senate.”
The Washington Post last Friday reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, under an order from President Donald Trump, issued a directive to U.S. forces to “kill everybody” during the Sept. 2 attack.
However, Hegseth called this claim “fake news” and said Bradley, who commanded Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the attack, was the responsible authority. In October, Bradley was promoted to lead the U.S. Special Operations Command, the universal command for special operations.
Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Maryland, told CNS that stopping drug trade “has to be done in accordance with the law.”
“I am glad that both chambers of Congress are now conducting bipartisan oversight into allegations that, if true, could amount to a war crime,” Olszewski said. “Both the September 2 attack and the administration’s broader strategy of killing drug suspects as if they are enemy soldiers in war unquestionably warrant full transparency and investigation.”
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, told reporters that the admiral said during the closed hearing that there had not been a “kill them all” order. Himes added that the shipwrecked sailors were “not in a position to continue their mission,” CNN reported.
“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Himes told reporters. “You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, (who) were killed by the United States.”
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the second strike was “entirely lawful and needful” and “exactly what we’d expect our military commanders to do.”
“I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound to the United States back over so they could stay in the fight,” Cotton said.
However, the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual says that any combatants who could be deemed “wounded, sick, or shipwrecked” should be “respected and protected in all circumstances.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said the second missile strike was like “executing wounded soldiers or killing prisoners of war.” He called the attacks a “completely dangerous erosion of the law.”
“The government does not have the power of summary mass capital punishment against accused drug dealers who have had no representation, no due process, no trial, no right to cross-examine witnesses and no appeal,” Raskin told CNS.
“By defending these lawless attacks and ignoring Congress’ power to declare war,” Raskin added, “the Trump administration is setting a precedent where the government can use lethal military force against purported foes based simply on suspicion.”