US Senate minority leader says Americans deserve to 'hear truth' about Venezuela boat strikes

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday renewed his call for the defense secretary to release the full tapes of Sept. 2 U.S. boat strikes in the Caribbean, warning that the lack of transparency poses legal risks for service members and erodes public trust.

"It's been almost a week since a report came out saying Secretary (Pete) 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.

Schumer criticized Hegseth for refusing to disclose the complete footage of the operation, which targeted a boat off Venezuela accused of being involved in drug trafficking, but with no evidence cited.

“It’s an incredibly serious matter. It’s about the safety of our troops," said Schumer, referring to claims that targeting the survivors in the water may 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,' differing accounts

The Democratic leader said Hegseth’s account — along with statements from the White House and Pentagon — has shifted repeatedly in recent days.

“The day after the boat strikes, Hegseth said on Fox News he watched the entire operation live,” Schumer 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 left the operations center midway through the mission and was unaware that a second strike had taken place, attributing the discrepancy to “the fog of war."

Casting doubt on the defense chief’s account, Schumer said: "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? The American people are asking. The Congress is asking. Republican senators and congressmen are asking.

He added: “Why does his story keep changing? Why won't he release the tapes? The tapes will show the American people what really happened on September 2. The American people and every person serving in our military deserves to hear the truth.”

Some Republicans have joined Democrats this week in pressing for more information on the strikes.

On Tuesday, Hegseth said that he was not in the room when Adm. Frank Bradley, the commander of the US Special Operations Command, ordered a follow-up attack that killed survivors of a previous US strike on the alleged drug boat.

Hegseth told a Cabinet meeting that at the Defense Department, “we got a lot of things to do, so I didn't stick around for the hour and two hours … So I moved on to my next meeting.”

Hegseth also said that he did not see any survivors from the initial strike.