House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., doesn’t want to get ahead of impending investigations into a deadly Sept. 2 strike on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, but argued that there is a precedent for such strikes dating back to the Obama administration.
Both congressional Republicans and Democrats have raised concerns about the nature of the two strikes on the suspected drug vessel, with chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees announcing that they planned to delve into rigorous oversight of the situation.
It all comes after a report from The Washington Post said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth green-lighted a second strike on the vessel to take out any remaining survivors. The White House later confirmed on Monday that Hegseth did authorize the second strike, but that Adm. Frank Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, ordered and directed it.
In the aftermath, there have been calls to release unedited footage of the strikes, and for lawmakers to get a fulsome briefing on what exactly happened three months ago.
When asked if unedited video should be released of the strikes to Congress and the public, and, if the footage showed that the survivors were defenseless, if that would amount to a war crime, Johnson said that he wouldn’t ‘prejudge any of that,’ and he noted that both the Senate and House Armed Services panels would hold hearings to review the incident.
The top House Republican noted that he was playing catch-up on the developments, given that he spent much of Monday campaigning in Tennessee for Tuesday’s special election to replace former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.
‘My assessment of this, my understanding, is that most of the people that have looked at this, at least, in a preliminary review, say that the admiral who ordered the second strike was — thought it was necessary to complete the mission,’ Johnson said. ‘He’s a highly decorated, highly respected admiral in the Navy. And, he made that call.’
‘And so, you know, we’re going to have to look at that,’ he continued. ‘I’m sure Congress has a right to look at it. I don’t know how much of the tape should be released, because I’m not sure how much is sensitive with regard to national security and all that. I haven’t had a chance to review it, so I’m not going to prejudge it.’
Johnson then turned his focus to former President Barack Obama and argued that under his administration, few questions were asked about the slew of drone strikes authorized by the then-president.
‘One of the things I was reminded of this morning is that under Barack Obama, President Obama … I think there were 550 drone strikes on people who were targeted as enemies of the country, and nobody ever questioned it,’ Johnson said. ‘And second, secondary strikes are not unusual. It has to happen if a mission is going to be completed.’
‘So I haven’t reviewed the scope of the mission,’ he continued. ‘I haven’t reviewed that particular strike. I don’t know what went into the admiral’s decision matrix, but it’s something that Congress will look at, and we’ll do that in the regular process in order.’