Senior US Democrats urge release of Venezuela boat strike video

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WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Democratic members of the “Gang of Eight” of U.S. congressional and intelligence committee leaders called on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday to make public the full, unedited video of the September 2 strikes on a suspected drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean.

“As some of the few members of Congress who have seen the complete, unedited video of the strikes on September 2 against a maritime vessel, we write to stress our grave concerns surrounding their circumstances… it is critical that you provide full transparency to Congress and to the American people,” members of the group said in a statement.

The statement was released by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York; House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York; Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking member of the House intelligence committee.

Republican President Donald Trump’s top national security advisers, including Hegseth, have held multiple classified briefings in recent days for senior Democrats and Republicans in Congress about the administration’s campaign against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers, with more expected next week.

Democrats have said they are dissatisfied about the amount of information they have received and raised questions about whether the campaign is illegal. Many Republicans have fully backed the action.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement. Hegseth has said he has not yet decided whether the full video should be released.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Diane Craft)