WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday there are no plans to release the full unedited video of the September 2 strikes on a suspected drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean that fueled concerns about the Trump administration's plans for Venezuela.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio conducted briefings on Tuesday for every member of the Senate and House of Representatives, responding to lawmakers' demands for more information about a 3-1/2-month campaign of more than 20 strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have killed more than 80 people.
On Monday, the U.S. military struck three vessels in the Pacific, killing eight people.
"In keeping with long-standing Department of War policy, Department of Defense policy, of course we're not going to release a top-secret full unedited video of that to the general public," Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Rubio said the administration would continue to engage with Congress, describing the mission as "highly successful."
DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BRIEFINGS
Concerns about the U.S. military's campaign against boats off Venezuela, from both Democrats and President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans, increased after it became public that the commander overseeing the operation had ordered a second strike that killed two survivors as they clung to wreckage on September 2, which human rights groups called a violation of international law.
Trump initially said he was open to the video being made public, but later deferred to Hegseth on whether it should be released.
Democrats said the briefings were too short and that the officials from Trump's Republican administration had not seemed prepared to thoroughly answer questions.
"The administration came to this briefing empty-handed," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. "We don't know what the ultimate goal is. The president says different things at different times and contradicts himself," he added.
Republicans generally praised Trump's action, which the administration says is intended to fight trafficking in drugs responsible for the deaths of Americans.
The United States indicted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on narcoterrorism charges in 2020, during Trump's first term as president, and has accused his government of harboring "narcoterrorists."
'HE NEEDS TO GO'
Maduro and his government have always denied all criminal accusations and say the U.S. is seeking a leadership change to take control of Venezuela's vast natural resources, including its oil.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for a change in Venezuela's leadership, saying it would reflect badly on the U.S. to have conducted such a long and large campaign if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remains in power.
"If Maduro is what they say he is, and I believe them, he needs to go. It should be the policy of the United States that when this is over, he's no longer standing," Graham told reporters.
In wide-ranging interviews with Vanity Fair, Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, said the boat strikes were aimed at putting pressure on Maduro.
"(Trump) wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle," the magazine quoted Wiles saying in an article published on Tuesday.
In a post on X, Wiles called the Vanity Fair story "a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history," saying it omitted important context and selectively quoted her to create a negative narrative.
Noting Wiles' comments, Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said after the briefing that Trump should come to Congress for authorization if he plans to attack Venezuela.
"If this is about regime change, it seems to me that the administration should say that's what it is and should come to Congress to ask for that authorization, which has not taken place," Meeks said.
The Trump administration has been building up forces in the Caribbean, including deploying an aircraft carrier, warships, and F-35 aircraft.
Trump this month released his National Security Strategy, arguing the U.S. should revive the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Western Hemisphere to be Washington's zone of influence.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Idrees Ali; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Rod Nickel and Nia Williams)
