Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., attempted to force the release of unedited footage of a controversial Sept. 2 double-tap strike against an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean to both Congress and the public. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed every senator on the strikes Tuesday, but Senate Democrats left unsatisfied because they weren’t shown the footage of the strikes. Hegseth argued that the Pentagon has a longstanding policy to not release unedited, top-secret footage.
"The public should see this, and I hope that we'll have support to make it public," Schiff said after the meeting. "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."
But the push was blocked by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who argued on the floor that Schiff's motives may have been politically influenced and that when former President Barack Obama used drones during his administration, there wasn't near the same level of hand-wringing.
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in Washington May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
"There's a lot of members that are going to walk out of there, that are going to leak classified information, and there's got to be certain ones that you hold accountable. So, not everybody can go through the same background checks that need to be able to get cleared on this," he said.
But there is still a desire among the GOP for all of Congress and the public to see the footage.
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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., contended that the administration has released every other video related to the strikes and that "they brag about killing these people, unarmed people."
"They brag about how mighty they are and how powerful they are, and they show us the clips almost instantaneously when they blow people up," he said. "They don't want to show the image of blowing up people clinging to wreckage, destroying their entire narrative."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-republicans-block-schiff-effort-force-release-caribbean-strike-footage