Senate blocks Schiff bid to have Pentagon release boat strike video
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Senate blocked Schiff’s bill to force Pentagon to release an unedited strike video.
- Senators passed a defense measure to pressure the Pentagon to share strike footage.
- Schiff sought mandate for members and public access to September drug-boat strike video.
The Senate blocked a bid Wednesday by Sen. Adam Schiff to require the Pentagon to make public a video of the September U.S. strike that killed two people who had survived an initial attack on an alleged drug boat near Venezuela.
“This is going to come out. It’s just a question of how long we have to fight to make this available to the American people,” the California Democrat told the Senate.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., blocked his proposal from being considered.
Senators were briefed on the video earlier this week, and Wednesday, the Senate passed a defense bill that puts pressure on the Pentagon to release videos of strikes against alleged drug boats near Venezuela.
The bill would hold back part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until he allows the House and Senate Armed Services Committee to see the videos.
Schiff’s proposal
Schiff wanted to go a step further.
“The public should see this, and I hope that we’ll have support to make it public,” he said.
“I found the legal explanations and the strategic explanations incoherent, but I think the American people should see this video. And all members of Congress should have that opportunity. I certainly want it for myself,” he added.
His bill would require Hegseth to make the unedited video of the strikes “against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command available to all members of Congress no later than 10 days after enactment of the bill.”
Within 15 days of passage, the bill would require the video of the strikes be made available to the public on a Pentagon website.
The controversy centers on a September 2nd U.S. attack in which a second strike on an alleged drug boat killed two people who had survived the first strike.
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Senate blocks Schiff bid to have Pentagon release boat strike video."
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