Pentagon chief says won't release 'full' footage of Venezuela boat strike

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he had no plan to release the "full, unedited" footage of a Sept. 2 second strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela.

"In keeping with long standing Department of War policy, Department of Defense policy, of course we're not going to release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public," Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill.

His remarks came after he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a classified briefing with senators on the latest developments in the Caribbean.

Hegseth said the House Armed Services Committee and Senate Committee on Armed Services would see the unedited video of the Sept. 2 strike on Wednesday, alongside with Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, who commanded the operation.

He said Bradley has done "a fantastic job, has made all the right calls."

"It is the 22nd bipartisan briefing we've had on a highly successful mission to counter designated terrorist organizations, cartels, bringing weapons — weapons meaning drugs — to the American people … for far too long," Hegseth said.

Rubio, for his part, said he and Hegseth were now headed to the House of Representatives to deliver a similar briefing and provide updates on efforts to counter drug trafficking.

He said the mission was "focused on dismantling the infrastructure of these terrorist organizations that are poisoning the country."

Following the closed-door briefing, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that he reiterated his demand that Hegseth allow all 100 senators to view the unedited footage of the strike in question.

"He refused. The administration came to this briefing empty-handed ... If they can't be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean."