The Latest: Navy admiral who ordered attack that killed boat strike survivors briefs lawmakers

The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is on Capitol Hill for a classified briefing with top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security.

The information from Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who is now the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela. There are mounting questions over whether the strike may have violated the law.

The briefing in a secure facility at the Capitol is with congressional leaders, including the Republican chairs and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, and separately to the GOP chairman and Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Here’s the latest:

Agents search Virginia bail bonds office tied to suspect in pipe bomb case

In Fairfax, Virginia, federal agents gathered outside an office marked “Brian Cole Bail Bonds,” its entrance wrapped in yellow crime-scene tape that flicked in the afternoon wind.

A man in an FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force jacket stood near the entrance, conferring with local officers who were guarding the building.

The business shares the suspect’s name. In public records, it appears to be associated with members of his family, though authorities have not detailed the connection.

Republican and Democratic committee leaders share differing takeaways on Hegseth’s use of Signal

The Republican and Democratic leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee offered diverging takeaways from the Pentagon inspector general report on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to share sensitive information.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chair, said in a statement that Hegseth “acted within his authority to communicate the information in question to other cabinet level officials.”

But Wicker said that senior leaders also need more tools to share classified information “in real time and a variety of environments.”

Sen. Jack Reed of Oregon, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said Hegseth violated military regulations and showed “reckless disregard for the safety American servicemembers.”

Reed said in his statement that anyone else would have faced “severe consequences, including potential prosecution.”

Carney will hold a brief meeting with Trump on Friday

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to have a brief meeting with Trump while at the Kennedy Center in Washington for the World Cup draw Friday.

Carney’s spokesperson Audrey Champoux says Carney will also have a brief meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The United States, Canada and Mexico are hosting the 64-nation World Cup next year.

Navy admiral says there was no ‘kill all’ order in attack that killed drug boat survivors

A Navy admiral has told lawmakers that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

That disclosure Thursday comes as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.

Sen. Tom Cotton told reporters about what he heard from Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley in classified briefing and Cotton is defending the attack. But a Democratic lawmaker who was also briefed says he’s deeply concerned by video of the second strike

Hegseth sharing sensitive military plans on his personal phone put troops at risk, watchdog finds

The Pentagon inspector general’s report released Thursday criticized the use of unapproved messaging apps and devices across the department.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had the authority to declassify the material he shared with others in a Signal chat, the watchdog found. But it also says the release of details about the strike on Houthi militants in Yemen violated internal Pentagon rules about handling sensitive information that could put service members or their missions in danger.

The report noted that the information that Hegseth sent — the quantity and strike times of manned U.S. aircraft over hostile territory about two hours to four hours before those strikes — “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.”

Hegseth wrote on social media: “No classified information. Total exoneration. Case closed. Houthis bombed into submission.”

Rep. Nancy Mace says she has ‘no interest’ in leaving Congress early

The South Carolina Republican told reporters during a virtual news conference on Thursday that she’s going to finish her term but is “100%” frustrated with the slow pace of the House.

Mace was asked about reporting by The New York Times that she is looking to meet with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to discuss following the lead of the Georgia Republican, who has announced she’s leaving Congress in January.

Mace said she’s expressed her frustrations to House Speaker Mike Johnson, whom she supports and said she expects to outlast recent criticism of his management of the House.

Mace, first elected in 2020, is seeking the GOP nomination for South Carolina governor in next year’s elections and is not expected to run for another House term.

Protesters in New Orleans forcefully removed from City Council meeting

Protesters held signs that read “No Collaboration with ICE/DHS” and begged city leaders to create “ICE-Free zones” during a City Council meeting Thursday. It was the second day of a federal immigration enforcement operation in the city.

After public comment was suspended, and protesters refused to yield their time at the podium, City Council members paused the meeting and left the room.

As protesters chanted “Shame,” city police officers ordered them to leave the building. While some protesters complied, multiple others were pushed or physically carried out by officers.

Trump administration blasts ‘procedural gamesmanship’ in Chicago immigration case

Trump administration lawyers on Thursday accused plaintiffs of “throwing in the towel” with “procedural gamesmanship” after they moved to dismiss their lawsuit over the aggressive tactics of federal immigration officers in the Chicago area.

The coalition of protesters and journalists behind the suit called the dismissal a victory, saying the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” had largely wound down. But the case was on its way to a skeptical appeals court that had already frozen an order limiting agents’ use of force.

“The moment they have to explain themselves to an appellate court, they run for the hills,” said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Democrats unveil a three-year extension of enhanced ACA tax credits

Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer says a bill Democrats will bring to the Senate floor for a vote next week would allow for a three-year extension of enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised Democrats a vote on a proposal of their choosing as part of a path forward to ending the historic, 43-day government shutdown earlier this fall.

Schumer said every Democrat will support the bill. It’s most likely to fail, though.

“Republicans have one week to decide where they stand. Vote for this bill and bring health care costs down or block this bill and send premiums skyrocketing,” Schumer said.

Trump to visit Pennsylvania to highlight efforts to curb inflation as high prices squeeze Americans

A White House official said Trump would be making the trip Tuesday to discuss ending the inflation crisis he says was inherited from his predecessor, Joe Biden. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the trip hasn’t been formally announced. It wasn’t immediately clear where in Pennsylvania Trump would be visiting.

Last month’s off-year elections showed a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about affordability persist. White House officials said afterward that Trump — who has done relatively few events domestically — would put a greater emphasis on talking directly to the public about his economic policies.

The president has said that any affordability worries are part of a Democratic “hoax” and that people simply need to hear his perspective to change their minds — an approach also embraced by Biden, who in early 2024 went to the Pennsylvania borough of Emmaus to take credit for economic improvements after inflation spiked in 2022.

— Josh Boak

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White House lowers flags in honor of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom

Flags at the White House were lowered to half-staff in honor of U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, a West Virginia National Guard member who was shot Nov. 26, blocks from the White House, and later died of her wounds. Trump issued the proclamation “as a mark of respect for the memory” of Beckstrom.

Lawmaker calls boat strike video ‘most troubling’ he’s ever seen

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, commented after seeing a video of two boat strike survivors in what he said was “clear distress” at a classified morning briefing.

“Admiral Bradley has a storied career, and he has my respect and have the respect of all of us,” Himes said on CNN.

“But what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel were killed by the United States.”

NY attorney general challenges authority of acting US attorney investigating her Trump lawsuits

President Trump’s effort to install political loyalists as top federal prosecutors has run into a legal buzz saw lately, with judges ruling that his handpicked U.S. attorneys for New Jersey, eastern Virginia, Nevada and Los Angeles were all serving unlawfully.

Now, another federal judge is poised to consider an argument by New York Attorney General Letitia James that the administration also twisted the law to make John Sarcone the acting U.S. attorney for northern New York.

A court hearing is scheduled to be held Thursday as James challenges Sarcone’s authority to oversee a Justice Department investigation into regulatory lawsuits she filed against Trump and the National Rifle Association.

James, a Democrat, is disputing the legitimacy of subpoenas issued as part of Sarcone’s probe, which her lawyers say is part of a campaign of baseless investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies.

▶ Read more about the Justice Department and Letitia James

US renews warning to Americans not to travel to Venezuela as speculation mounts on military strikes

The State Department has renewed a dire warning to Americans against any travel to Venezuela as tensions between Washington and Caracas have spiraled over U.S. military strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers in the Caribbean and signs that the Trump administration may be preparing for operations inside the country.

In an updated travel alert released Thursday, the department emphasized that U.S. citizens should cancel any plans to visit Venezuela or remain in the country if they’re already there “due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure.”

“All U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in Venezuela are strongly advised to depart immediately,” it added. “Do not travel to Venezuela for any reason.”

Senate health committee chair calls vaccine committee ‘totally discredited’

At least one Republican senator is raising concerns about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine committee and the anti-vaccine voices it has platformed.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a liver doctor who’s been outspoken in support of the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, took to X to post the agenda of the committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He noted one of the presenters scheduled for Friday is a trial attorney who’s worked with Kennedy to sue vaccine makers.

“He is presenting as if an expert on childhood vaccines,” Cassidy wrote. “The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children.”

Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy as health secretary earlier this year but the two have repeatedly clashed over vaccine policy.

Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Dan Caine joins Hill briefing on boat strike

Adm. Bradley and Caine have just walked into the secure area at the Capitol where top lawmakers will also gather for the closed-door classified morning briefing.

The details about the strike on alleged drug smugglers are crucial as lawmakers question Hegseth’s leadership at the Pentagon amid concerns about the legality of the strike on survivors in the waters off the coast of Venezuela.

Republican Matt Van Epps swiftly sworn into the US House

The newest member of Congress won a nationally watched special election in Tennessee this week that helped maintain the GOP’s slim grip on power in the chamber.

House Speaker Mike Johnson swiftly swore Van Epps into office, a speedy addition to the GOP ranks — in stark contrast to the seven-week long delay in swearing in the newest Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona. Johnson had refused to swear her into office during the government shutdown.

A West Point graduate and former state general services commissioner from Nashville, Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn to represent the 7th Congressional District.

Admiral Bradley arrives on Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on boat strike

Lawmakers have many questions for Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who the White House has said ordered the follow-on strike on the alleged drug boat off the Venezuelan coast that’s drawn grave scrutiny.

The military attack reportedly on survivors in the water has led to questions of its legality. Some lawmakers have called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign.

Bradley is expected to speak to top leaders of the congressional committees handling national security matters during a day of meetings at the Capitol.

FBI makes arrest in investigation into pipe bombs placed in DC on eve of Jan. 6 riot, AP source says

The FBI has made an arrest in its nearly 5-year-old investigation into who placed pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The arrest marks the first time investigators have settled on a suspect in an act that had long vexed law enforcement, spawned a multitude of conspiracy theories and remained an enduring mystery in the shadow of the dark chapter of American history that is the violent Capitol siege.

The official who described the arrest spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss a case that hasn’t yet been made public. The arrest took place Thursday morning and the suspect is a man, the official said. No other details were immediately available, including the charges the person might face.

The pipe bombs were placed on the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees in the District of Columbia. Nobody was hurt before the bombs were rendered safe, but the FBI has said both devices could have been lethal.

— Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer

▶ Read more about the pipe bomb investigation

Trump hosting the leaders of Congo and Rwanda to sign key deal for peace in eastern Congo

The peace signing Thursday will also open access to the region’s critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.

Lauded by the White House as a “historic” agreement brokered by President Trump, the so-called Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity between Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda follows monthslong peace efforts by the U.S. and partners, including the African Union and Qatar, and finalizes an earlier deal signed in June.

The Central African nation of Congo has been battered by decadeslong fighting with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The conflict escalated this year, with M23 seizing the region’s main cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented advance, worsening a humanitarian crisis that was already one of the world’s largest with millions displaced.

▶ Read more about the peace deal between Congo and Rwanda

Pentagon knew boat attack left survivors but still launched a follow-on strike, AP sources say

The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed to sink the vessel, according to the people familiar with the matter who spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly. The Trump administration says all 11 people aboard were killed.

What remains unclear was who ordered the strikes and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was involved, one of the people said. The details are becoming crucial as lawmakers have launched investigations and are seeking to determine whether the U.S. acted lawfully during its military operations.

Hegseth is under growing scrutiny over the department’s strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, and in particular the follow-on strike that reportedly killed survivors. Some legal experts and lawmakers say that the strike would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict.

— Lisa Mascaro

▶ Read more about the revelations