Navy Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley is set to brief key lawmakers on Capitol Hill this Thursday about the Trump administration’s recent military operations targeting boats in the Caribbean. These vessels are suspected of trafficking drugs into the United States.

The briefing is anticipated to focus on the controversial strikes conducted on September 2. These actions have faced increased scrutiny following revelations by The Washington Post that a subsequent attack was executed to adhere to a directive allegedly issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The directive reportedly called for the complete elimination of everyone aboard the targeted vessel.

Adm. Bradley, who led the operation, reportedly initiated a second strike upon observing two survivors clinging to the debris of the burning ship. According to reports, Bradley deemed these survivors legitimate targets. The Washington Post detailed that during a secure conference call, Bradley communicated to others that the survivors could potentially alert other traffickers to their location, thereby justifying their inclusion as targets. This decision was said to be in alignment with Hegseth’s directive to ensure no one was left alive.

The situation has raised questions, particularly concerning the whereabouts and actions of Hegseth following the initial strike on the boat. Lawmakers, including those on the Senate Armed Services Committee, are expected to probe deeper into the operational and ethical implications of these military actions.

But the White House has disputed the reporting that Hegseth gave that order, and the Defense chief himself appeared to address the quote during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. He accused the press of planting “fake stories in The Washington Post about ‘kill everybody,’ phrases on anonymous sources, not based in anything, not based in any truth at all.”

“I saw that quoted in a Washington Post story. I would reject that the Secretary of War ever said that,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reports during a briefing Monday.

Beyond details of Hegseth’s exact orders on the day of the initial attack — and what the legal basis was for the directive — lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pressed for more transparency on the operations. This includes seeing what the military commanders saw on the livestream after the first strike.

The Pentagon released a video of the attack soon after it was carried out, as it has done with nearly two dozen strikes since, but has not released footage of a subsequent hit. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Hill on Wednesday that as many as four strikes were conducted on that day.

Hegseth said Tuesday that he did not “stick around” to see the second strike, which he said he learned of a couple hours after the fact. The secretary added that he had to move on to another meeting, invoking the “fog of war” in decisions made around the operation.