Several House Democrats are charging that the Trump administration is unfairly targeting a senior Navy officer in order to deflect criticism over a deadly September strike against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
The dispute centers on Adm. Frank Bradley, whom the White House identified as the commander who ordered a second strike on a disabled vessel after two survivors were spotted following an initial attack on Sept. 2.
Democrats allege that the administration is making Bradley a scapegoat to obscure what they say is a broader pattern of pushing aggressive policies while distancing itself from the consequences.
"This administration has a long history of asking people to do things that are reckless or lawless, and then throwing them under the bus," Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told The Hill.
According to the White House, the operation was part of President Donald Trump's intensified efforts to combat drug trafficking from Latin America. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized the initial strike and said he observed it but emphasized he "didn't stick around" for the second.
The Washington Post first reported the details of the mission last week.
The revelation has triggered scrutiny on Capitol Hill from Democrats and some Republicans who question whether the second strike complied with U.S. military law.
The War Department's own law-of-war manual states that "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a former military attorney, told reporters: "Killing shipwrecked survivors is a war crime."
Others, including Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., warned that violating such rules could endanger American troops if they ever find themselves in similar circumstances.
Hegseth, after initially dismissing the Post's reporting as "fabricated," has since defended both the mission and Bradley. Speaking on Tuesday at the White House, he insisted the admiral "made the correct decision" and vowed the administration would back him up.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed that position, saying Bradley acted within his authority and followed the directive that the traffickers not survive. She argued the suspects posed a national security threat and that neutralizing the vessel was necessary.
Democrats counter that Hegseth's alleged "kill everybody" order placed Bradley in an untenable position: violate the law of armed conflict or defy the secretary of war.
Crow — a former Army Ranger — said the incident reflects what he called a "reckless, lawless administration" that puts service members in impossible situations.
Crow was among six Democrat lawmakers with military backgrounds who recently appeared in a video urging Pentagon personnel not to carry out unlawful orders. Republicans, including Trump, sharply criticized the video, with the president accusing the lawmakers of sedition.
Crow said the video was not connected to the Sept. 2 operation but was instead a response to what he described as Trump's "repeated threats" involving the military.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., also a veteran and one of the video's participants, told The Hill that Bradley still bears responsibility for following what she considers an unlawful order. But she accused Hegseth of trying to shift accountability down the chain of command.
"It feels like they're not willing to say where the buck stops — and the buck stops with Hegseth and the president," she said, adding she hopes the episode prompts a change in leadership at the Pentagon.
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