Senator Mark Kelly sharply questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a tense Senate hearing, accusing the Pentagon of withholding the full, unedited video of U.S. boat strikes near Venezuela.
Kelly pressed Hegseth on why only an edited clip has been released to the public, arguing that missing footage could show whether U.S. forces properly followed rules of engagement, correctly identified the target, and avoided civilian harm. Hegseth declined to release the full video, citing operational security and classified concerns, and maintained the strike was lawful.
Kelly countered that the Pentagon is effectively asking Americans to “trust us” on life-and-death military decisions, warning that selective releases undermine transparency, accountability, and congressional oversight.
00:00Senator Mark Kelly says the Pentagon is hiding the truth.
00:19In a tense hearing, he grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over a mysterious Venezuela
00:26boat strike video the Pentagon refuses to release in full.
00:31Kelly claims the edited clip Americans were allowed to see leaves out critical moments
00:36that could show whether U.S. forces followed the rules of engagement or crossed a line.
00:43Tonight, the full breakdown of how Kelly exposed Hegseth, what this secret footage might reveal,
00:50and why the Biden administration is now under fire for transparency and accountability.
00:56The showdown happened in a high-stakes Senate hearing on U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America.
01:05Hegseth came prepared with talking points about precision strikes and minimizing civilian harm.
01:13But Kelly quickly cut through the script and went straight to the missing footage.
01:18Kelly asked a simple question.
01:21Why won't you release the full, unedited video of the Venezuela boat strikes so the public can see exactly what happened?
01:29Instead of a clear answer, Hegseth dodged, cited, operational security,
01:35and repeated that the edited clip already told the relevant story.
01:40Kelly hinted that the unreleased parts of the video may show the moments before and after the strike,
01:46exactly when rules of engagement and identification of targets are supposed to be crystal clear.
01:53He suggested that the cut sections might reveal whether U.S. forces properly confirmed the boat as a legitimate military threat,
02:01or fired on a vessel without sufficient evidence.
02:04Kelly also raised concerns about civilian presence in the area,
02:08and whether the Pentagon is hiding any collateral damage that didn't make it into the sanitized version of the video.
02:16By refusing to release the full tape, Kelly argued,
02:19the Pentagon is effectively asking Americans to just trust us on life and death decisions made in their name.
02:27Each time Kelly pressed him,
02:30what exactly are you hiding?
02:32Hegseth fell back on vague references to classified tactics and sources and methods.
02:39When Kelly asked if the missing footage would show U.S. forces misidentifying the target,
02:44Hegseth refused to give a yes or no answer, instead insisting the strike was lawful and justified.
02:52That carefully lawyered language only fueled Kelly's argument that something in the full video contradicts the polished narrative being fed to Congress and the public.
03:03At one point, Kelly flatly said Hegseth had no answers,
03:08accusing him of hiding behind bureaucracy instead of being honest about what really happened off Venezuela's coast.
03:16This isn't just about one boat or one strike.
03:19Kelly framed it as a test of whether the U.S. government can be trusted when it claims its wars are clean, precise and lawful.
03:28If the Pentagon can edit footage, cut out uncomfortable moments and then refuse oversight, he warned,
03:35Americans will never know when their military makes deadly mistakes.
03:39For Venezuelans and others in the region, the unanswered questions around this strike will only deepen distrust of U.S. power and feed accusations of secretive, unaccountable interventions.
03:53As the clip of Kelly's grilling spreads online, pressure is growing on the Pentagon and the White House to declassify the full Venezuela strike video or admit what they're hiding.
04:05The bigger question remains, was this just a PR-edited war clip or proof that the truth about U.S. military actions is being cut in the editing room before the public ever sees it?
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