WASHINGTON >> The Trump administration on Monday defended the legality of a Sept. 2 attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea as calls grew in Congress to examine whether a follow-up missile strike that killed survivors amounted to a crime.

The lethal attack was the first in President Donald Trump’s legally disputed campaign of killing people suspected of smuggling drugs at sea as if they were combatants in a war. It has started coming under intense bipartisan scrutiny in recent days amid questions about the decision to kill the initial survivors and what orders were issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

At the White House on Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement that said Hegseth had authorized the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack, Adm. Frank M. Bra

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