A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday that there was no "kill them all" order from War Secretary Pete Hegseth as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.

Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley "was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all. He was given an order that, of course, was written down in great detail," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing.

Cotton, a Republican, defended the attack, but a Democrat who also was briefed said that while there was no "kill them all" order from Hegseth, he was still deeply concerned by video of the second strike.

"What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service," Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters. "You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, were killed by the United States."

Bradley was joined at the Capitol by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for sessions that came at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela. There are mounting questions over whether the strike may have violated the law.