Adm. Mitch Bradley, who oversaw the Sept. 2 military attack of a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, told lawmakers on Wednesday that it would be possible to release portions of a video showing the killing of two survivors without compromising classified information, according to three Democrats.
Bradley's comments, which were part of a classified briefing for members of the House and Senate armed services committees, came a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would not share the full unedited video publicly or with the broader Congress because doing so could expose sensitive military sources and methods.
"I would characterize Bradley's remarks as acknowledging the fact that you could, in fact, edit this in a way that would enable it to be released without any sensitive information being released," Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told ABC News in a phone call.
Smith said Bradley did raise a concern at one point that redacted video could omit important context to the strike. Smith rejected that argument, noting that Hegseth and President Donald Trump, who have the authority to declassify material, have already shared partial videos of two dozen boat strikes to their social media accounts.
"My conclusion is there's no legitimate reason not to release the video of the second strike on Sept. 2," Smith said.
In a statement provided to ABC News, Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesperson for U.S. Special Operations Command, noted that Bradley did not have the authority to release the video and "never offered" to lawmakers that he did.
"His response was that he would execute the Department's guidance, but stated that if released as shown to lawmakers, the video would pose a risk to sources and methods," she said. "It would also provide less detail than the currently classified video and would only provide a thin slice of the overall operational picture."
On Tuesday, Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill that he wouldn't release the "full unedited" version because it was "top secret" and that doing so would violate "longstanding Department of War policy." The Pentagon did not immediately respond to questions about whether Hegseth would consider releasing an edited version of the video.
Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he would "absolutely" support releasing edited video to all House members "if we can get it declassified to a level that we don't compromise tactics, techniques and procedures."
He did not say whether he would support a public release.
Democrats said Bradley made clear in the meeting that releasing the video was possible, if Hegseth wanted to do so.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told reporters that Bradley "supported" releasing the video and "said that there is no reason why it can't be released."
"Obviously, it has to be edited to make sure that there are no sources or methods disclosed, just as every other video that's been released has been edited," Moulton told reporters.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., said lawmakers were told "there's no reason why they can't release the video."