Ron Filipkowski claims the Trump administration is setting up Admiral Mitch Bradley to take the fall for Pete Hegseth's Venezuela drug boat scandal

After a statement from the White House revealed on Monday (December 1) that a second strike on the alleged Venezuelan drug boat did take place in September on orders of Admiral Mitch Bradley, Pete Hegseth showed his support for him in a tweet. 

Hegseth called Bradley "an American hero, a true professional," adding that he had the Defence Secretary's "100% support". 

If Admiral Bradley didn’t realize before that these cowards were setting him up to take the fall, he knows it now. Time to hire a good lawyer. pic.twitter.com/b1IoegyE1W

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 2, 2025

However, attorney Ron Filipkowski sees Pete's tweet as a trap. Retweeting its screenshot on his X account on Tuesday (December 2), Filipkowski captioned it:

"If Adminral Bradley didn't realize this before these cowards were setting him up to take the fall, he knows it now. Time to hire a good lawyer."

While Filipkowski's perspective on things might not be in the favor of Hegseth, Karoline Leavitt did confirm in her statement that it was the Defence Secretary who had authorized the strikes.

Leavitt said in the Monday press briefing:

"President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war."

The White House statement comes after the Washington Post published a report on the matter last week, claiming Pete Hegseth had given an order to "kill everybody" for the second round of strikes. Per BBC, the strike was allegedly executed after two people on the burning vessel had survived the initial strike.

The September 2 strike is one of the many strikes the US has executed on the boats in international waters off Colombia and Venezuela. The army calls it an anti-narcotics operations, suggesting that their targets are suspects of smuggling drugs.

​The US's strikes have led to increasing tension with Venezuela

As one can predict, the latest strikes that the US has made on the Venezuelan boats has not been received well in Venezuela. 

On Sunday (December 31), the Venezuelan National Assembly condemned the boat strikes, pledging to initiate a thorough investigation into them. Venezuelans have also accused the US of intending to topple their government by stoking tensions in the region.

On Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General, Tarek William Saab appeared on BBC Newsnight, where he claimed that Trump harbored a "great envy" for their natural resources. 

He also advocated for a direct dialogue between the governments of both countries "to clear the toxic atmosphere we have witnessed since July of last year". 

The interview came a day after President Trump confirmed he had connected to Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, over phone call, suggesting him to resign from his position and leave the country with his famly.

BBC reports that many US officials have accused Maduro of being part of a terrorist organization called Cartel of the Suns - which the president has denied.