Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Demanding Secretary Hegseth Immediately Release The Full Tapes Of The September 2nd Boat Strikes
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor demanding Secretary Pete Hegseth provide answers on why he went missing in the middle of the controversial September 2nd operation and to release the full, unedited tapes of the boat strikes, emphasizing that American people and Congress need full transparency on this important national security issue. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
It has been almost a week since a report came out saying Secretary Hegseth potentially ordered the indiscriminate killings of survivors clinging to a vessel in the Caribbean, and we still—still—don’t know the truth, because Pete Hegseth has not released the full tapes of the strike.
This is an incredibly serious matter. This is about the safety of our troops. This is an incident that could expose members of our armed services to legal consequences. And yet the American public and the Congress are still not hearing basic facts.
So once again, Secretary Hegseth, you need to do the right thing. You need to tell the truth and release the full, unedited tapes of the September 2nd boat strikes. Only then will Americans know the truth, because no one believes Secretary Hegseth.
Until Secretary Hegseth releases the full tapes, the American people cannot trust what he says. Secretary Hegseth’s story, the White House’s story, the Pentagon’s story, keeps changing every day. How can you believe them when the story keeps changing? The day after the boat strikes, Pete Hegseth said on Fox News that he watched the operation live. He told us in person that he was in the room, that he was part of the operation. But then yesterday, he totally reversed himself. Pete Hegseth said he didn’t see the second strike everybody’s wondering about. He now says that he left in the middle of the operation and that a couple of hours passed before he was made aware that a second strike had even been necessary. He blamed “the fog of war.”
A couple of hours? What could possibly have been more important that Secretary Hegseth went missing for two hours during a military strike against alleged drug traffickers? What is Secretary Hegseth hiding? The American people are asking, Republican senators and congressmembers are asking: Secretary Hegseth, what are you hiding? Why does his story keep changing? Why won’t he release the tapes?
The tapes will show the American people what happened on September 2nd. The American people and every person serving in our military have a right to know the truth.