'Don't let it slip by': Lawyer flags bipartisan 'thumb in the eye to Trump administration'

A national security attorney said a minor detail included in an announcement of a bipartisan investigation of the Trump administration represents a "thumb in the eye" to the president.

In an article called "Congressional committees to scrutinize U.S. killing of boat strike survivors," the Washington Post reported, "In a rare split with the Trump administration, GOP-led panels in the House and Senate say they want a full accounting in the September military attack."

The Post continues:

"Late Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the committee’s top Democrat, issued a statement saying that the committee 'is aware of recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels.' The committee, they said, 'has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.'"

It's that statement that stood out to national security attorney Mark S. Zaid, who flagged the quote on X and pointed out what might have been an insult to Hegseth and the Trump administration.

"Don't let it slip by anyone that both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees - GOP & DEM - refer to the Pentagon using the correct name of Department of DEFENSE not War," the lawyer wrote, going as far as to describe the choice of words as a "proper and lawful direct thumb in the eye to the Trump Administration."

Professor Amy Coplan replied to that, saying, "Thank God."

"If we’re extremely lucky, maybe this will be a sign that they’ll be operating within reality rather than in the fantasy-land of those in and attached to the executive branch," she then added.