Hegseth Faces Accusations Of Lying Or Incompetence Over Boat Strike Statements

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) leveled accusations against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, questioning his credibility following contradictory statements regarding military action on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel.

Paul’s remarks came after observing President Donald Trump’s comments about the situation. Trump had stated he “wouldn’t have wanted that [a second strike], not a second strike” and suggested he was unaware of the events until Sunday, when Paul brought them to his attention.

This prompted Paul to directly challenge Secretary Hegseth. Appearing at a White House Cabinet meeting, Paul asked reporters: “Do we think there’s any chance that, on Sunday… the secretary of the defense did not know there had been a second strike?”

The controversy stems from reports by Newsmax identifying Secretary Pete Hegseth as the architect behind two separate strikes against an illicit boat off the coast of Africa. According to their account, Mr. Hegseth initially dismissed claims of a first strike in early September as “fake news.”

Nowhere near the boat himself at that time, Secretary Hegseth claimed he learned about it later and then ordered forces to eliminate any threat from surviving crew members.

He told reporters: “I watched that first strike live… As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I didn’t stick around for the hour or two hours where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs.”

But according to Newsmax’s report, Mr. Hegseth was not present for what might be described as the most critical part – the follow-up strike that occurred after survivors were left adrift.

Mr. Paul characterized this contradiction: “Secretary Hegseth said he had no knowledge of this and it did not happen. It was fake news.”

“And then the next day, from the podium of the White House… they’re saying it did happen,” Paul continued.

“So, either he was lying to us on Sunday, or he’s incompetent and didn’t know it [the first strike] had happened?” Paul questioned directly.

Mr. Hegseth defended his decision not to be present for the second strike: “Adm. Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.”

“And it was the right call… We have his back,” he added referring to himself as approved of by military leadership in this instance.

Paul strongly disagreed, calling the situation “outrageous” and stating that such actions should be “universally condemned.”