Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that he witnessed the initial strike in the U.S. military’s “double tap” attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea in September, but had left the room before the second one because he was “busy.”

In a cabinet meeting , Hegseth doubled down on his defense of the “double tap” boat strike on September 2 — while still distancing himself from direct responsibility, which he continues to assign to Admiral Mitch Bradley, the commander overseeing the mission.

While Hegseth said that he “empowered” the military brass “to make that call,” he wasn’t present when the second strike was ordered.

“I want to be the one to make the call, after getting all the information, and make sure it’s the right strike, that was September 2nd,” he said, touting the am

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