A Democrat congressman is escalating his attacks on Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, accusing him of committing war crimes and drawing a striking comparison to Nazi conduct during World War II.
The clash between Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton (D) and Hegseth erupted Wednesday during Hegseth’s testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, where Moulton pressed the defense secretary over the Trump administration’s military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean. Moulton argued the operations may have crossed a legal line, claiming it would violate the Geneva Conventions to target survivors after an initial strike.
He went further in a subsequent interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, where he was asked directly whether he believed Hegseth was guilty of war crimes.
“Absolutely,” Moulton responded. “I mean, he’s clearly behind the operation to shoot all these boats in the Caribbean when it’s very unclear that we actually have any confirmation that these so-called ‘narco terrorists,’ a term the administration invented to justify this action, are even on the books. I mean, in fact, there’s a lot of evidence that these are just fishermen, you know, getting jobs, piloting these boats, trying to feed their families. There’s been press reporting on some of these individuals who have been killed who are clearly not war criminals.”
Moulton, an Iraq War veteran who often leans on his military experience in foreign policy debates, also accused U.S. forces of carrying out so-called “double tap” strikes—returning to hit the same target again after the initial attack.
“And on top of that, we then have the strike where they came back in and hit it again, a double tap, just purely to kill these survivors who were clinging to wreckage,” he continued.
He then invoked a stark historical analogy.
“We tried Nazi submarine captains for doing this exact same thing during World War II,” Moulton said. “And guess what the conclusion was? They got executed. Listen to that, Mr. Secretary.”
Hegseth pushed back during the hearing itself, rejecting the premise of Moulton’s accusations. He said U.S. forces operate strictly within established rules of engagement and emphasized the professionalism of American service members carrying out the missions.
The dispute highlights a growing divide over the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to counter-narcotics operations, which officials have increasingly framed in national security terms. Critics argue the expansion of military force into these missions risks blurring the line between law enforcement and warfare, while supporters say the strategy is necessary to disrupt transnational criminal networks.
Moulton’s comments also mark one of the most severe accusations leveled by a sitting member of Congress against a defense secretary in recent years, underscoring the heightened rhetoric surrounding military policy and accountability.
Whether his claims gain traction beyond partisan lines remains to be seen. But the exchange signals that scrutiny of the administration’s tactics—and Hegseth’s leadership at the Pentagon—is likely to intensify in the weeks ahead.
READ NEXT: Louisiana Suspends House Primaries After Court Ruling
Sponsored
John Kennedy here. The last fundraising deadline passed — and we came up short. Now the woke crowd is celebrating, saying “Kennedy’s finished.” Let’s prove them wrong. Chip in $25, $50, or whatever you can to close the gap and keep fighting.
Moldy multon is a nasty America hating EVIL TWISTED FOOL that at a minimum deserves censuring and removal!!!
Liberals are one sick bunch. Clean up your own house before trying to stir up propaganda on our house.
Moulton is a lowlife liberal sob. I would question his service based on his naivety to a two month war being a quagmire.
I’ve got to wonder ….. these libs who say that these drug-boats are a problem only for the police … do they actually believe that we are so stupid that we can’t see through their garbage?
Or are they that stupid that they can’t see how really ridiculous it is what they’re saying!
Police matter?
Since the police in any part of the U.S. don’t have jurisdiction on the high seas, nothing that they could do would stand up in court.
Even the military would have a problem with that, hence the reason to eliminate these drug-runners. The drug-runners KNOW what may occur to them, but they do it anyway. Their choice!
The police don’t have the equipment ( boats of large enough size, aircraft of enough size or the ability to go the distance required, armaments of large enough caliber to get the job done to stop any of these boats, etc. ) to be able to do anything of consequence in such a situation.
But we should allow these drug transporters and terrorists to come into our country with their poison?
Is that what these libs want? And why would they ever want that?
Is it just to be able to make Trump look bad?
Doesn’t it matter to them that allowing drug-runners to bring their drugs here will cause the deaths of a great many Americans?
Or don’t they care?
Our MILITARY is our defense force for whatever happens outside of our borders.
That’s what the Constitution clearly states.
What is so hard for libs to understand?
Dems hate anyone driving up the price of street drugs for their voters.
Mr Dimwit Moulton since when do fishermen need high speed boat to fish with?