WATCH: Admiral to tell Congress suspected drug boat still posed threat

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Navy admiral who ordered additional military strikes on a damaged boat with two survivors plans to tell Congress the suspected smugglers planned to continue the run, making them legitimate targets.

Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley plans to say he and a legal adviser determined the survivors were trying to continue the suspected drug smuggling operation, according to multiple media reports.

Defense officials confirmed reports of a second strike on the same boat earlier this week, raising questions over whether the second attack could constitute a war crime.

The Sept. 2 attack is the sole known instance where survivors were killed in follow-up strikes. In October, the Coast Guard rescued two survivors of a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug submarine. Those survivors were released without facing U.S. charges. 

Bradley is expected to meet with lawmakers Thursday behind closed doors, the Wall Street Journal reported in an exclusive with details about the Sept. 2 attack.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Congress must get involved.

"Labeling people 'narco-terrorists' without proof just to justify killing them is not the law. It's lunacy. This policy risks dragging America into another foreign war," Paul wrote in a post on X. "We need transparency, oversight, and respect for the Constitution."

President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have defended the strikes. Hegseth has also defended Bradley's decision for follow-up strikes. 

Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military should release video of the strikes. On Thursday, he posted on social media that he was dealing with "THE POISONING OF AMERICA!"

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U.S. officials have reported 21 strikes on suspected drug boats near Venezuela, killing 82 people.

Democrats, a few Republicans, and human rights groups have criticized the strikes.

Trump says the strategy is working and saving lives. The U.S. president said each sunken boat has saved 25,000 American lives from overdoses.

The Coalition for Military Excellence, a national nonprofit, said the strikes were justified.

"CME strongly supports the Department of War, the Pentagon, and America's warfighters in their efforts to confront and dismantle the violent transnational criminal cartels responsible for trafficking deadly narcotics into the United States. These organizations ruthlessly exploit vulnerable populations, destabilize our regional partners, and fuel an epidemic that has taken tens of thousands of American lives," CME Military Advisor Amber Smith said in a statement on Thursday. "When cartels threaten national security, undermine sovereignty, and target U.S. citizens, America has a responsibility to act with strength, precision, and resolve."

The strikes come amid a pressure campaign against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who has controlled the South American nation since 2013.

International election observers have accused Maduo of consolidating power through fraudulent elections. In 2024, his reelection was widely condemned as illegitimate, with allegations of vote tampering and intimidation of opposition leaders. Maduro is also facing allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and involvement in illegal drug trafficking. U.S. prosecutors have charged Maduro with running a drug cartel using cocaine trafficking as a tool to run the regime and put a $50 million bounty on information leading to his arrest. Almost eight million people, more than a quarter of the population, have left Venezuela in recent years.

The U.S. has limited trade relations and has no diplomatic ties with Venezuela, which is aligned with China and Russia.