But committee members are still set to hear from the commander who ordered the strike and see the unedited video of the incident in the coming days.
“It’s done,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told reporters Tuesday when asked about his next moves to probe the incident. “I’ve got all the answers I needed.”
What’s next? That’s unlikely to sit well with Democrats who’ve pressed for a full investigation, including public hearings.
Rogers and other leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence panels met last week with U.S. Special Operations Command chief Adm. Frank Bradley, who oversaw the strike, and viewed the footage in a classified briefing.
Some top Republicans argued the video vindicated the administration’s position. House Armed Services top Democrat Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), meanwhile, said the committee should conduct “a full-scale investigation” that would include hearings and requests for documents.
Rogers and Smith, along with Senate Armed Services leaders, had previously pledged “rigorous oversight” of the incident following a report by The Washington Post last month.
Full viewing: But rank-and-file committee members are now poised to see the full video. Rogers said Bradley is set to return next week to brief the full House Armed Services Committee and show them the full video of the strike.
It’s still an open question whether the video will be made public, as some lawmakers have urged. The Pentagon isn’t yet committing to releasing the uncut footage.
SOUTHCOM sit down: House and Senate Armed Services leaders also met behind closed doors on Tuesday with U.S. Southern Command head Adm. Alvin Holsey, who abruptly announced in October he’d step down in December despite taking command less than a year ago.
Though reports indicate Holsey expressed concerns about the legality of strikes against alleged drug boats and was ousted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Rogers said Holsey told lawmakers his departure is “personal.”
“He just said that’s private,” Rogers said. “He said it had nothing to do with the operations in his command.”
Oversight win: Rogers and defense leaders, though, are insisting Hegseth turn over full videos of the U.S. boat strikes in Latin America to Congress as part of their annual defense policy bill.
The final bill puts Hegseth’s office on notice by withholding a quarter of his office’s travel budget until he turns over unedited footage of the strikes occurring in Southern Command.
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