Ungar-Sargon: The ‘Second Strike’ Story ‘Has Been Massively Misreported’ ... If Boat Was Disabled, ‘It Remained a Threat’

PHILLIP: “Yeah, I mean, Batya, this kind of puts the whole unlawful order thing in a different context, because now there‘s a real question about whether there was an unlawful order and who gave it.”
UNGAR-SARGON: “Well, first of all, the story has been massively misreported. So, you have actual headlines saying that Hegseth gave the order for the second hit. That wasn‘t in the initial Washington Post article, which claimed that following by hearsay, somebody claimed to have heard Hegseth say, ‘We have to kill everybody,’ therefore, the admiral gave the second hit. So I just want to clear that up. I think that‘s why Hegseth wrote the tweet, is to just correct the record. But what I don‘t understand is, it is the secretary of state‘s right to determine who is a terrorist and who isn‘t. The secretary of state answers to the executive Branch. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined that these boats are carrying terrorists, which makes the attacks on them legal. And the only question is whether that boat was disabled or whether it was destroyed. If it was destroyed, how were there still live people clinging to it? And if it was only disabled — let me just finish the point — then it was still a threat, meaning it was still a legitimate target. So I‘m very confused. And by the way, I‘ve spoken to a lot of veterans today who are also very confused by all of this bipartisan outrage. I don’t get it.”
PHILLIP: “Well, the good thing we have a military lawyer at the table, so — yeah.”
Donovan: “Can I just respond to two things? You know, first, I would say, to your point about, you know, who gave this order, what The Washington Post article said, I think that‘s precisely why we need the Senate and the House to do what they‘re supposed to do, have investigations.”
UNGAR-SARGON: “I totally agree.”
Donovan: “Let‘s figure it out.”
UNGAR-SARGON: “I want more information as well.”