Military attorneys drop BAD NEWS for Pete Hegseth

You're watching the legal breakdown at Glenn a group of US military lawyers They're called Jags, which you were a Jag as well in the army have spoken out against Pete Hague Says what they're calling war crimes by by virtue of his strikes in the Caribbean So first and foremost, can you talk about what the implications are? If you have a Secretary of Defense or a Secretary of War as he calls himself that is committing war crimes Under the guise of his office.

You know, it is a criminal offense no matter how you look at these boat strikes in international waters. It violates domestic law. It violates international law. It violates the law of war. Of course, we are not in a declared war with anybody.

So the implications are grave. In the event you have a Department of Justice that you know is loyal to the rule of law, Pete Hegseth could very easily be charged with murder, the crime of murder, 86 times over now. There have been 11 boat strikes, a total of 86 dead. And the Washington Post reporting today, which preceded this new memo, this new opinion that was just issued by this former JAG lawyer group, the reporting was horrific because

apparently according to folks inside the military or inside the administration, unnamed sources though they may be, when there was a Hegseth-ordered boat strike back in September, there was a drone that was monitoring in real time the consequences of the strike. And it saw two survivors, two people who were reportedly clinging to the wreckage of the burning boat and there was a second strike launched to, quote, blow them out of the water.

Brian, you know, even in a time of war, there are rules against killing defenseless people, executing injured, even enemies. But this is so clearly in violation of all laws and norms that, you know, Pete Hegseth at some point, unless he is presidentially pardoned at the end of Trump's term, should absolutely be held accountable for these murders.

And that's what I wanted to dig into a little bit here. To what extent is, does he still shoulder personal liability even if he's doing it from kind of the protection or the comfort of his position? Like is he going to be able to leave office, barring like you said being given a pardon, which I wouldn't put it past Trump or this administration to do, but is he going to be able to leave office and say, oh, I was protected by virtue

of my position. I'm allowed to do this because I was the Secretary of Defense and so nobody can come after me.

The answer is no. There are things called patently unlawful orders. And according to this JAG working group, this is by far a patently unlawful order. Kill folk in international waters and indeed if there are people who survived the first strike make sure you execute them all. There is no straight-faced claim that that is a lawful order. There's no straight-faced claim that there it's anything but a

patently unlawful order. I mean, we have seen this movie before. We are familiar with the Lieutenant Calley case, which occurred during the Vietnam era where he was given and he carried out an order to kill all the men, women, and children in the village, whether they were posing a threat or not. What did Lieutenant Calley do? He gave the order.

Some of his troops followed the order. Others refused to obey the order, but he, Lieutenant Calley, was prosecuted. He raised the defense of, I was just following orders. And the courts held, no. You cannot use as a defense

that you were just following orders if you commit the crime of murder while executing patently unlawful orders like kill everyone in the village or kill everyone on the high seas, including any who may survive the first strike.

So, Hagseth will have no viable defense based on the law. Now, he may very well get himself a presidential pardon at the end of Donald Trump's term, and then the issue really becomes, Brian, something I've been pushing for for a very long time. Does the next administration, let's assume the rule of law comes back into the light of day and we have a new Attorney General who actually

abides by both the rule of law and the Constitution, might that person try to challenge a corruptly delivered pardon? Because I find it hard to believe that the courts can endorse or for gosh sakes endure a president who essentially commands the murder of others and then pardons the very people who carry out his murderous command. I mean if that is where the courts want the state of the law in the United States of America to be then that, you know, will be a very, very dark future for our country.

Just a quick aside before we continue. For those who are watching right now, if you'd like to support our work and support independent you know, will be a very, very dark future for our country. was so upset, bristled so hard at the PSA that was posted just a few days ago by Senate Democrats, basically announcing that not only should you defy illegal orders, but you cannot follow illegal orders because of exactly the precedent that you stated. Do you think that it has something to do with the fact that this administration right now is perpetuating these crimes by virtue of handing down illegal orders?

It's a great question. I think the reason they bristled so hard or lost their damn minds with Donald Trump saying, because six members of Congress virtually read something from the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or what we call the manual for courts martial, read it accurately, they committed sedition and they should be prosecuted and put to death. I mean that is what Donald Trump posted and I think

the reason they lost their minds is because one they have been doing exactly what they've just been called out for and they were called out for it in a way by these members of Congress which is bulletproof. It actually, they cannot retaliate against

these people for speaking the truth. One, because it is truthful and accurate that military members must not obey unlawful orders. But second, the members of Congress who made this what I call a public service announcement video, they enjoy speech or debate clause protection. So I think it probably drives Trump and company crazy because they know there's nothing they can do other than, you know, threaten hollow investigations. Of course,

they can certainly extract their pound of flesh from Senator Mark Kelly and the five other members of Congress by running them through vindictive indictments, vindictive prosecutions, or vindictive court martial cases. And that can really make somebody's life challenging, difficult, miserable, expensive. But at the end of the day, if they actually try to charge those six members of Congress,

they're going to have so many robust defenses against the criminal charges that those prosecutions will fail spectacularly, just like the James Comey and Letitia James prosecutions have failed spectacularly. They have been dismissed and in the event they are either appealed successfully or those cases are re-indicted, they will again fail because they haven't even gotten to the vindictive and selective prosecution defenses.

Is there a statute of limitations that would apply to the people, whether it's Hegseth himself handing down illegal orders or committing these crimes, committing murder, or the people who follow his orders,

knowing full well, according to the manual for courts martial, that if you follow illegal orders, then you too shoulder personal liability? news, Brian, is there is no statute of limitations on murder and make no mistake about it. That's what this is. It is murder. It's premeditated. It violates domestic law, international law and the law of war. And all that is really left is for accountability to come when we again have a legitimate Department

of Justice.

You know, Glenn, a lot of times we're watching this illegality unfold and we just kind of have to sit idly by and wait for people to then eventually get into office who we hope will do the right thing. Granted, you can end up with somebody like Merrick Garland

who, you know, is gonna be so focused on preventing the optics of politicization that there will never be any accountability when you have someone like that in office. But is there any way to achieve some accountability right now?

Or is it just thanks to the fact that we have the Trump administration in office, so long as they continue to be in office, there will never be accountability for these people?

Brian, the good news is there is accountability that can begin this very moment. The bad news is there is accountability that can begin this very moment. The bad news is that accountability would be undertaken by the United States Congress. So you know, and I don't mean to make light of it, but you know, the Congress can institute oversight hearings or investigative hearings into Pete Hegseth's murderous, lawless orders that he has given repeatedly 11 times. There have been 11 boat strikes with 86 human

beings murdered. They could start impeachment inquiry hearings right now, today, this minute. Of course, given that, you know, we've got Maga Mike Johnson and the Republicans in control of Congress, at least at the moment, that is very unlikely to happen. Congress also has the power of the purse. They could begin to defund things. I mean, there are steps toward accountability that could be taken right now, but it requires a sort of honest, robust Congress that actually cares not only about its own power

and authority, but cares about the safety of the American people, cares about the safety of our troops. Because right now, there are some members of the military who are in the chain of command that carried out those murders

that are now at risk of criminal prosecution themselves. And Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, in a very real sense, are endangering our military members by urging them to engage in this unlawful conduct. Congress could step in. It should step in.

Will it step in? It seems unlikely while Congress remains in Republican control.

Well, you're right about Mike Johnson and the notion that Mike Johnson would ever lift a finger to hold any of these people accountable is farcical. But we've just got news within the last 24 hours that Republican Senator from Mississippi Roger Wicker, who is the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, has issued a statement alongside Democrat Jack Reed vowing quote vigorous oversight of Hegseth's order to quote kill them all. So I'm going to read this statement that was issued on behalf of Roger Wicker and Jack

Reed. Quote, the committee is aware of recent news reports and the Department of Defense's initial response regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the South Com area of responsibility. The committee has directed inquiries to the department

and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.'" So can I have your reaction to the fact that it looks like, you know, judging based just on these preliminary statements that are released, there may very well be some oversight

at the hands of, if not the House, the US Senate.

Here, here, anything that prods Congress into wakefulness and begins to not only assert its own power and authority, not only protect the rule of law, but protect our troops. I mean, even if you don't care about human beings in international waters, and as a matter of morality, I think you should care about the fact that the United States is now murdering

people lawlessly. You know, at least you can protect our damn troops because they shouldn't be abused like this by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth.

We'll leave it there. For those who are watching, again, if you'd like to support our work and support independent media, the best, simplest way to do that is to subscribe to our channels. It is and always will be 100% free, but again, it's a great way to support us. I'll put those links right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen. And I'm Glenn Kirshner. You're watching The Legal It is and always will be 100% free, but again, it's a great way to support us. I'll put those links right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen. And I'm Glenn Kirshner. You're watching The Legal Breakdown.