Lawmakers skeptical of alleged Hegseth kill orders in Venezuela — but issue stark warning

By Fox News · Fox News

Top Armed Services lawmakers are launching inquiries into the Trump administration’s lethal strikes in the Caribbean following a Washington Post report alleging that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. forces to kill anyone who survived a Sept. 2 strike on an alleged narcotics vessel. "We will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a joint statement. House Armed Services Committee leaders announced a parallel review, saying they are seeking "a full accounting" of the operation. GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY BEHIND TRUMP'S VENEZUELA STRIKES AS CRITICS QUESTION LEGALITY "We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region," said Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and ranking Democrat Adam Smith, D-Wash. They said the committee is pursuing bipartisan oversight. The Washington Post report , published Friday, cites unnamed individuals who claim Hegseth "gave a spoken directive" to "kill everybody" aboard a vessel U.S. intelligence believed was carrying narcotics in the Caribbean Sea. A Joint Special Operations commander overseeing that Sept. 2 mission "ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions" once two survivors were seen in the water after the initial blast, according to the report. Fox News has not independently verified the Post’s reporting. Some lawmakers cast doubt on the account and stressed they have not been briefed on any order resembling what was described. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired Air Force brigadier general who has criticized Pentagon leadership on unrelated issues, said he is skeptical such an order would have been issued. RUBIO PROMISES MORE STRIKES ON VENEZUELAN CARTELS: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO SIT BACK ANYMORE’ "Secretary of Defense Hegseth denies it. We should get to the truth," Bacon said on ABC. "I don’t think he…