(NewsNation) — Navy Adm. Frank Bradley was on Capitol Hill on Thursday for a classified briefing concerning deadly strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that have come under bipartisan scrutiny.
The briefing comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled a Sept. 2 military operation in international waters near Venezuela. Questions have mounted over whether a second boat strike may have violated the law.
Lawmakers are seeking a full accounting of the strikes after the Washington Post reported that Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, ordered an attack on two remaining survivors to comply with Hegseth’s directive to “kill everybody.”
Legal experts argue the attack amounts to a crime if the survivors were targeted, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding accountability.
Bradley was expected to speak to congressional leaders Thursday, including the Republican chairs and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, and separately to the GOP chairman and Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The meetings were expected to be closed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.