Lawmakers expressed bipartisan support for congressional reviews of Trump’s boating strikes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling ships in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members as part of the Sept. 2 attack.

Lawmakers said they did not know if a Washington Post report last week was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike raises serious legal concerns.

Read more: A timeline of US military strikes on boats off South America and what Congress said

“This amounts to a war crime if true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia.

When Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, was asked about the subsequent strike targeting people who could no longer fight, he said Congress had no information about what happened. He pointed out that the leaders of the Armed Forces Committee in the House of Representatives and the Senate have opened investigations.

“Obviously if that happened, it would be very dangerous, and I agree it would be illegal,” Turner said.

Meanwhile, on Sunday evening, while returning to Washington from Florida, where he celebrated Thanksgiving, President Donald Trump confirmed that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The US administration says the strikes in the Caribbean target gangs, some of which it claims are controlled by Maduro. Trump is also considering whether to launch strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.

Trump refused to comment on the details of the call, which were first reported by the New York Times.

“I can’t say things went well or poorly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked about the call.

The Venezuelan Ministry of Communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the call with Trump.

Turner said there are concerns in Congress about attacks on ships that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, but the claim about the Sept. 2 attack is “completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation.”

The lawmakers’ comments during their appearances on news programs come as the administration steps up a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the United States. Trump said on Saturday that the airspace “over and around” Venezuela should be considered “completely closed,” an assertion that raised more questions about US pressure on Maduro. Maduro’s government accused Trump of issuing a “colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the sovereignty of the South American country.

Read more: Maduro’s government rejects Trump’s claim of closing Venezuelan airspace

After the newspaper’s report, Hegseth said Friday on Channel

“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under US and international law, and all actions comply with the law of armed conflict — and are approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.

Trump said on Sunday that his administration would “look into” the matter, but added: “I didn’t want that — not a second strike.” The president also defended Hegseth.

“Pete said he did not order the killing of these two men,” Trump said. “And I believe him,” he added.

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will conduct vigorous oversight to determine the facts regarding these circumstances.”

This was followed on Saturday by the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the ranking Democrat, Representative Adam Smith from Washington, issuing a joint statement in which he said that the committee is committed to “providing strict oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean region.”

“We take seriously reports of successive raids on boats allegedly transporting drugs in the Southern Command area and are taking bipartisan action to compile a full report on the operation in question,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to US Southern Command.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was asked about the Sept. 2 attack and said Hegseth deserved a chance to introduce his team.

“We have to get to the truth,” Bacon said. “I don’t think it would be stupid enough to make this decision to say, ‘Kill everyone, kill the survivors,’ because that is a clear violation of the law of war.” “So, I’m very skeptical that he would do something like that because it goes against common sense.”

Keane and Turner appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Bacon also appeared on ABC’s “This Week.”