Claire McCaskill, the former Democratic senator from Missouri, warned Wednesday that the Trump administration’s controversial boat strike last month may become the catalyst that brings it down.
In September, the Trump administration carried out a follow-up strike on a boat suspected of carrying narcotics in the Caribbean in order to kill its survivors, who were observed clinging to the wreckage, an act that would likely constitute a war crime, according to a whistleblower.
Critics have demanded that video of the strike be released, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has remained hesitant to do so, in spite of President Donald Trump having initially said he had “no problem” with releasing the footage.
While appearing on MS NOW Wednesday, McCaskill characterized the Trump administration’s hesitancy to release the video as an admission that its content was damning, and argued that the controversy would continue to “consume” the administration until its resolution.
“The fact they're hiding it tells you all you need to know, that they think showing it is more damaging to them than the story staying alive, and it is going to consume them,” McCaskill said.
“And I've got to tell you, I want to indict Hegseth, I want to indict Trump for what they're doing here, but really, the military leaders, the ones he had in the first term would not have done this. The military deserves better than this, they're being put in a terrible position, and the leaders of the military know it.”
As to why he remains hesitant to release the video, Hegseth said that he held concerns about exposing military sources and methods. Given the growing number of Republican lawmakers who’ve called for transparency around the strike, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has characterized the strikes as illegal “extrajudicial killings,” McCaskill argued that Hegseth’s purported reason for not releasing the video didn’t make sense.
“They know they're keeping this story alive by hiding the evidence, the legal opinion, the video of the second strike, and it is total BS that this has something to do with protecting sources and methods,” she said. “They showed the video of blowing up the boats!”
And on the growing dissent among Republicans, McCaskill said it was evident of the gravity of the situation for the Trump administration.
“There is more activity than I've seen ever before among Republicans on the Armed Services Committee,” she said. “They are not pounding the podium, they're not speaking out like they should, but this investigation is moving, it's not stalling.”