{"id":45791,"date":"2025-12-28T13:06:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45791"},"modified":"2025-12-28T13:06:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:06:13","slug":"as-hegseth-refuses-to-release-video-of-boat-murder-aoc-calls-briefing-a-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/as-hegseth-refuses-to-release-video-of-boat-murder-aoc-calls-briefing-a-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"As Hegseth Refuses to Release Video of Boat Murder, AOC Calls Briefing a \u2018Joke\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\u200bU.S.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, they have issues with what is in that video, and that\u2019s why they don\u2019t want everybody to see it,\u201d Sen. Mark Kelly said of administration officials after the meeting.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 16, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/trinitymedia.ai\/player\/trinity-player.php?pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fhegseth-briefing-boats&contentHash=420c66fa0bcf61f1f1c8fd58c9b02b5cc182f72457e72fdd3e0f2714da9c9c60&unitId=2900021701&userId=5752cafe-a61d-4177-b146-0c8454dc0ef8&isLegacyBrowser=false&version=20251224_4ea8e4f416f9ec053edc1ab8fdde99cf11b51ae5&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=478&isMobile=0&unitType=tts-player&integrationType=web<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon<\/a> will not release unedited video footage of a September airstrike that killed two men who survived an initial strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, a move that followed a briefing with congressional lawmakers described by one Democrat as an \u201cexercise in futility\u201d and by another as \u201ca joke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth said that members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees would be given a chance to view video of the September 2 \u201cdouble-tap\u201d strike<\/a>, which experts said was illegal like all the other boat bombings. The secretary did not say whether all congressional lawmakers would be provided access to the footage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sen.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Demands to Release Full Video of Deadly US Boat Strike Grow After Congressional Briefing<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP-CABINET\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Calls Grow for Impeachment of Hegseth for \u2018Murder,\u2019 Even as Jeffries Dumps Cold Water on the Idea<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course we\u2019re not going to release a top secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public,\u201d Hegseth told reporters following a closed-door briefing during which he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> fielded questions from lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with a similar briefing<\/a> earlier this month, Tuesday\u2019s meeting left some Democrat attendees with more questions than answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe administration came to this briefing empty-handed,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-NY) told<\/a> reporters. \u201cIf they can\u2019t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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about:blank<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That includes preparations for a possible attack<\/a> on oil-rich Venezuela<\/a>, which include the deployment<\/a> of US warships and thousands of troops to the region and the authorization<\/a> of covert action aimed at toppling the government of longtime Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday\u2019s briefing came as House lawmakers prepare to vote this week on a pair of war powers resolutions aimed at preventing President Donald Trump<\/a> from waging war on Venezuela. A similar bipartisan resolution recently failed<\/a> in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-author of one of the new war powers resolution, said in a statement<\/a>: \u201cToday\u2019s briefing from Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth was an exercise in futility. It did nothing to address the serious legal, strategic, and moral concerns surrounding the administration\u2019s unprecedented use of US military<\/a> force in the Caribbean and Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs of today, the administration has already carried out 25 such strikes over three months, extrajudicially killing 95 people,\u201d Meeks noted. \u201cThat this briefing to members of Congress only occurred more than three months since the strikes began\u2014despite numerous requests for classified and public briefings\u2014further proves these operations are unable to withstand scrutiny and lack a defensible legal rationale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

.@PabloReports<\/a>: Were you satisfied with the answers you\u2019ve gotten so far in this classified briefing on Venezuela?

AOC: Oh, hell no. It was a joke. This was not a serious intelligence briefing. This was the communication of an opinion. pic.twitter.com\/5rQpLMSv6F<\/a><\/p>— Acyn (@Acyn) December 16, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>