No, you can’t see the video of potential war crimes, says Hegseth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, shown on Dec. 4.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday that the Pentagon would not publicly release unedited footage of the follow-up missile strike that killed two survivors of an attack on alleged drug smugglers off the coast of South America. Instead, Hegseth said that only members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees would be allowed to review the video this week.

Hegseth: I’m also going to, tomorrow, allow the HASC and SASC [House and Senate Armed Services committees] to see the unedited video of the Sept. 2nd, alongside with Admiral [Frank] Bradley, who has done a fantastic job, has made all the right calls, and we're glad he'll be there to do it. But in keeping with long-standing Department of War policy, Department of Defense policy, of course we're not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public. HASC and SASC and appropriate committees will see it but not the general public.

The second strike is widely suspected of being a war crime, and as such, Hegseth has since used Admiral Mitch Bradley as the scapegoat for the potential crime.