While skeptical to concede that the Washington Post’s reporting may be accurate, Republicans also raised concern that Hegseth’s orders could have been illegal if they played out as reported.
Bipartisan leadership of the Armed Services Committees in both chambers vowed to probe the matter, with Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) promising “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances” on Friday.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) told Cordes on Sunday that “if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that would be an illegal act,” and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said on ABC’s “This Week” that “if it was as if the article said, that is a violation of the law of war.”
“I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors, because that’s a clear violation of the law of war,” Bacon, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, told ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “So I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that, because it would go against common sense.”
The oversight comes as Trump has sparred with Congressional Democrats over a video reminding service members of their obligation to defy illegal military orders. Trump called for the six lawmakers featured in that video to face arrest and trial for what he called “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!,” sparking outrage from Democrats.
The White House has since insisted that Trump did not call for the lawmakers to be executed, despite Trump re-posting a since-deleted social media post that advocated for hanging the Democrats.
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