Moulton: Hegseth is guilty of war crimes
Rep. Seth Moulton (Mass.) on Wednesday became the latest House Democrat to accuse Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of war crimes, accusations that have mounted amid the Iran war and the U.S. military’s lethal boat strikes on alleged drug runners.
When asked Wednesday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” whether Hegseth is guilty of war crimes, Moulton said, “Absolutely.”
“I mean, he’s clearly behind the operation to shoot all these boats in the Caribbean when it’s very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called narco-terrorists, a term the administration invented to justify this action, are even on the boats. I mean, in fact, there‘s a lot of evidence that these are just fishermen, you know, getting jobs, piloting these boats, trying to feed their families,” Moulton told host Erin Burnett.
“There‘s been press reporting on some of these individuals who‘ve been killed who are clearly not war criminals,” he added.
Moulton referenced multiple U.S. military strikes on drug boats in the Caribbean as clear violations of humanitarian law.
The strikes began in early September and have continued over the past seven months, killing at least 186 people.
The most recent drug boat was struck on Sunday as part of Operation Southern Sphere.
“And on top of that, we then have the strike where they came back and hit it again. A double tap, just purely to kill these survivors who were clinging to wreckage. You know, it‘s interesting, Erin, another historical analogy: Back in World War II, the Allies tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing. And guess what the conclusion was? They got executed. Listen to that, Mr. Secretary,” Moulton said.
Reports at the time said Hegseth wanted to ensure no one survived.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other administration officials have defended the decision to strike alleged drug boats without presenting evidence that those on board are tied to illegal narcotic transit, claiming their crimes justify lethal force.
Regarding the Sept. 2 “double tap” strike, Leavitt said Adm. Frank Bradley was following orders to destroy the boat and guarantee “the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”
Earlier this month, a group of House Democrats filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of, among other misdeeds, war crimes in connection with the ongoing Iran conflict.
Moulton’s accusation came between back-to-back congressional appearances for the Defense Department chief: Hegseth faced testy House lawmakers on Wednesday and returned to testify before the Senate on Thursday.
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