Trump administration is 'selling out' admiral to shield Hegseth over boat strikes, officials say

[Uncle Joe]

White House names Adm Frank M Bradley as officer who ‘directed the engagement’, distancing Hegseth from accountability

The Pentagon on Tuesday scapegoated a Navy admiral for the extrajudicial double-tap strike that killed survivors of a September attack on an alleged drug boat and vowed to continue operations, even as lawmakers investigate whether the attack constituted a war crime.

(snip)

The White House statement came after Trump said on Sunday he “wouldn’t have wanted that – not a second strike” when asked about the incident, and claimed Hegseth told him “he did not order the death of those two men”. The president added: “And I believe him.”

The administration’s apparent effort to distance Hegseth from the operation has not flown under the radar for some elected officials.

(snip)

The White House’s legal justification for the strikes, outlined in a classified justice department office of legal counsel opinion reviewed by the Guardian, treats the operations as targeting cocaine rather than people – meaning anyone killed on board should be considered an enemy casualty or collateral damage rather than a murder victim.

(snip)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/02/us-admiral-to-brief-lawmakers-as-bipartisan-scrutiny-grows-over-boat-strike

[pfitz59]

1. Not just any Admiral

The top Navy Seal and head of Special Forces. This will not set well with our most lethal warrors.

[Ocelot II]

2. The underbussification of someone who didn't realize he should have resigned or retired

before he was made a fall guy like so many others. At least the women and black officers got fired before they could be used as scapegoats.

[RockRaven]

4. Based on the public reports of his actions, he was an active criminal not merely a scapegoat or fall guy.

I've got no pity for willing, active war criminals/murderers.

[Ocelot II]

8. He shouldn't have followed Kegbreath's orders; having done so makes him complicit.

But they're trying to make it look like it was all his doing when it clearly wasn't.

[MustLoveBeagles]

11. This is why you refuse illegal orders

[Ocelot II]

12. Yup.

[RockRaven]

3. Let's be clear: the Admiral cannot be "sold out" unless he also committed a crime.

So the blame-shifting attempt IS AN ADMISSION OF THE FACT OF THE CRIME.

If there were no crime, there would be no blame to shift.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Republican logic in black and white

ANYONE KILLED ONBOARD SHOULD BE CONSIDERED COLLATERAL DAMAGE RATHER THAN A MURDER VICTIM

Thune and Johnson will hold a joint press conference condemning the Republican logic any day now. The leaders comments will be condemned by Republican Senators from at least eight states as unpatriotic and not in keeping with President Trumps leadership protocols.

Surely I jest. Trump and leadership in the same sentence?

[Omnipresent]

6. The boats were blown up with the intent of killing those on board and destroying their cargo too.

As the saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound”.

[Irish_Dem]

7. If cocaine is the target, the US Navy could easily board the boats and remove the cocaine.

And arrest the drug mules.

Unless of course they know there is no cocaine onboard the fishing boats.

[sop]

9. Bradley's a buffer...the Trump crime family has a lot of buffers.

[The Roux Comes First]

10. By My Count, This Might Be the First Time These Two Convicts-to-be Are Both Claiming

To be telling the truth on a shared topic. Since the cries of "Wolf" are all we have ever heard from them before, that seems to make the odds that they are speaking the truth now infinitesimal.