Local lawmakers waiting to see deadly US boat strike video; legal experts label it 'war crime'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are growing concerns over the U.S. military's lethal strikes against suspected drug vessels in international waters near Venezuela, including how they're conducted, whether they're legal and lawmakers' access to all videos and records behind the coordinated strikes.

Congress has launched an investigation into a Sept. 2 boat strike in the Caribbean after The Washington Post reported a U.S. Navy admiral ordered a second strike on the vessel to kill all remaining survivors.

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Legal experts and former government advisers have told the I-Team, if true, the attack could amount to a crime if defenseless survivors were targeted.

While the investigation into that strike is ongoing, the Trump administration's targeting of suspected drug traffickers continues.

U.S. Southern Command published video on Thursday of another deadly kinetic strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean, targeting a vessel "operated by a designated terrorist organization... carrying illicit narcotics," according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Officials said the strike killed four men.

On that same day, U.S. Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill as part of an investigation into the controversial Sept. 2 boat strike that killed at least 11 people.

A source who saw the Sept. 2 video told ABC News two survivors from that Sept. 2 strike were clinging to the overturned boat for their lives, incapacitated and defenseless before the second strike obliterated them.

Chicago-area Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, told the I-Team only a select few have been given access to the full set of videos, including video of the second strike on two survivors, as well as records behind the strikes, raising concerns over transparency and accountability.

Krishnamoorthi sits on the House Intelligence Committee but says the Trump administration is selectively withholding vital information from Congress and the American public.

"I myself am very, very concerned about the fact that this is a pattern that this administration is pursuing now," Krishnamoorthi said. "They restrict access to the information. That's happened with Iran, the Iran strikes. That's happened with regards to other parts of the world. Now it's happening with regard to Venezuela and these boat strikes."

Because of that, Krishnamoorthi says he and many other intelligence committee members still have not seen the full video of both targeted strikes by the U.S. on an alleged drug boat on Sept. 2, now causing a firestorm across the country.

Lawmakers who were present during Thursday's closed-door meeting have shared differing views.

"I didn't see anything disturbing about it," said Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, the Republican chairman of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "What's disturbing to me is that millions of Americans have died from drugs being run to America by these cartels."

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the leading Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, disagreed, but held back on drawing conclusions yet.

"I think the, the video was very disturbing," Warner said. "I am not going to weigh in on all of the questions about lawful morality judgments until I get all the information."

New reporting from ABC News indicates the survivors from that first strike on Sept. 2 were waving for help, that they were clinging to the overturned boat after the devastating kinetic strike from the U.S. military and were defenseless before being annihilated by the second strike.

Legal experts have labeled all kinetic strikes a potential war crime.

Brian Finucane is a senior advisor for International Crisis Group, an independent organization focused on preventing wars, who formally worked for the U.S. State Department under President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump's first administration.

"I worked at (the U.S.) State Department for 10 years as an attorney advisor, advising the government on international and domestic law," Finucane told the I-Team. "I've never seen anything like this. Nor has anyone else I worked with in government, either civilian or JAG (Judge Advocate General's Corps), seen anything like this."

Finucane said just because the Trump administration designates actors as foreign terrorist organizations, or narco-terrorists as they have in the case of the Sept. 2 strike, does not mean the U.S. is in an armed conflict where the targets could be considered legitimate targets of war.

"My overall interpretation is that the U.S. government is engaged in a killing spree at sea completely outside the law," Finucane said. "They have tried to cloak this bombing campaign in the guise of counter-terrorism, but it's simply inappropriate because they're not actually attacking terrorists."

"The administration seems to have created a legal fantasy land that gives the executive a license to kill based on the president's own say," Finucane said.

Former Chicago-area Drug Enforcement Administration agent Michael Gannon recently told the I-Team these strikes continue to send a strong message to cartels.

"With the border being appropriately shut down, they have to go, resort back to continuing to utilize the Caribbean," Gannon said. "It's an absolute game changer that the military is involved in helping, going after these narco-terrorist organizations."

Earlier this week, President Trump said he would release the full video of the Sept. 2 strikes. On Friday, the White House told ABC News, "The Pentagon is engaging with the White House on how best to move forward."

No timeline has been set on when that video will be released.