New Intel Appears To Support Actions Taken In Second Strike Against Drug Boat

An unreleased video of a second strike on suspected narco-terrorists appears to support War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the War Department, according to ABC News. The report suggests that a second strike was not only justified, it was necessary to complete the intended mission.

ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz weighed in on the new information from an anonymous source on Wednesday evening, saying that it supported reports of two survivors remaining after a first strike on a suspected drug-running boat in the Caribbean. Where the new intelligence diverged, she reported, was that the suspected narco-terrorists were not simply clinging to the wreckage. The two appeared to be making attempts to salvage their illicit cargo and may have remained in contact with others in their network once their vessel had been disabled.

WATCH:

ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Wednesday’s ‘World News Tonight’ about drug boat-gate: “And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in… pic.twitter.com/R5eHFzzDql

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 4, 2025

“And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike,” Raddatz told host David Muir on ABC’s “World News Tonight.”

“They were believed to be potentially in communication with others, and salvaging some of the drugs,” she continued. “Because of that, it was determined they were still in the fight and valid targets. A JAG officer was also giving legal advice. So, again, David, that video will be key, and Admiral Bradley will be on the Hill tomorrow behind closed doors.”

The Washington Post published an anonymously-sourced “exclusive” on Saturday claiming that things had gone very differently, however.

According to the initial story, a direct order to “kill them all” was attributed to Secretary Hegseth — and the scenario described suggested that two survivors had been clinging to wreckage when a second strike was ordered to ensure that they weren’t left alive.

Democrats and legacy media outlets were only too happy to run with that narrative, and they spent much of the day Sunday declaring Hegseth — along with anyone who had been involved in carrying out his order — was likely guilty of war crimes.

The narrative continued into the week as the hosts of ABC’s “The View” not only proclaimed Hegseth guilty of “war crimes,” but insisted that if other military service members were eventually tried for war crimes, it would be because Hegseth’s orders had effectively “set them up.”