Who is Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley? US Navy officer denies ‘kill them all’ order in Venezuela strike probe

A Navy admiral who was the commanding officer during the US military strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from War Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a video of the attack has left grave questions as the Congress probes the mission that killed two helpless survivors.

Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct a probe after a report that he ordered the follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Hegesth’s demands. Legal experts have said such a strike could be a violation of the laws of military warfare.

“Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing, as per an Associated Press report.

Who is Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley?

At the time of the attack, Bradley was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, overseeing coordinated operations between the military's elite special operations units out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina. About a month after the strike, he was promoted to commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

Bradley's career in the US Armed Forces, which spans more than 30 years, was mostly spent serving in the elite Navy SEALs and commanding joint operations. He was among the first special forces officers to be deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. His latest promotion to admiral was approved by unanimous voice vote in the Senate this year, and Democratic and Republican senators praised his record.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has described Bradley as among those who are “rock solid” and “the most extraordinary people that have ever served in the military.”

But lawmakers have insisted that they are expecting a reckoning if it is found that survivors were targeted. “Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it, that had vision of it, needs to be held accountable,” Tillis said, as per AP.

What was the order given?

“The order was basically: Destroy the drugs, kill the 11 people on the boat,” said Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Smith, who is demanding further investigation, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”

The classified sessions with Bradley, alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, provided new information at a crucial moment as Hegseth's leadership comes under scrutiny. But they did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump's campaign to use war powers against suspected drug smugglers. So far more than 80 people have been killed in some 20 strikes.

With AP inputs