GOP Lawmaker Voices ‘Very Grave Concern’ Over Trump Administration Strikes On Suspected Drug Boats

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) voiced “very grave concern” about the continued U.S. airstrikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela because those on board are being “put to death” without any criminal prosecution.

Turner told ABC News’s Martha Raddatz on Sunday that he has not seen the tape of the so-called “double-tap” strike after two survivors were seen clinging to the boat, but expects to see the video next week.

Raddatz pressed Turner on President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez — a convicted drug trafficker.

“But these strikes and this this war on drugs comes as the president pardoned the former president of Honduras, serving a 45-year sentence for his involvement in one of the largest and most violent drug trafficking conspiracies,” Raddatz said. “What message are Americans supposed to take from that?”

“Well, there is very grave concern in Congress about these strikes in general, and you just hit, you know, exactly why: because of the contrast. these individuals are not being subject to criminal prosecution and if they were —”

“But I want you to comment on the pardon,” Raddatz interrupted.

“Well, on the pardon itself, here’s an individual who was subject to criminal prosecution and then released. These individuals, even if they were subject to criminal prosecution, there’s no capital punishment for drug trafficking. These individuals, because they’re being subject to military actions, are being put to death. they can’t be subject later to another administration—”

Raddatz asked again, “Should the former president of Honduras have been released?”

“You know, I certainly, you know, have very serious concerns about his his pardon. But I do think what is important here is the contrast that you’re, you’re making, and that is that these individuals do not have an ability later to be subject to another administration reviewing their issues and being subject to a pardon.”

President Donald Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez at the end of November, blaming the Biden administration for his unjust imprisonment.

“He was the president of the country and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the president of the country, and they said it was a Biden administration setup, and I looked at the facts and I agree with them,” Trump told reporters.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has not yet released the “double-tap” strike video to the public, saying only that the Pentagon was considering its options.

Watch the clip above via This Week on ABC News.