In Confirmation Hearing Exchange with King, Defense Secretary Nominee Refuses to Rule Out Use of Torture

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a cabinet confirmation hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) for the position of Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) questioned President-elect Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense nominee on his position regarding international laws of warfare and the use of torture. In an extended back-and-forth with nominee Pete Hegseth, King continuously pushed for a firm yes-or-no answer on whether he'd instruct the United States military to abide by Title 18 of current U.S. law that includes the War Crimes Act of 1996.

More specifically, Title 18 defines a war crime as a grave breach of any of the Geneva Conventions signed in 1949, including but not limited to the willful killing of a protected person, torture or inhumane treatment, willfully causing great suffering or excessive injury, mistreatment of prisoners of war, deportation and hostage taking.

King asked, "Are you rejecting Title 18 and Title 42, I think, also has provisions that incorporate the Geneva Convention and the laws of armed combat. Are you saying that those laws should be repealed? That is the law of the land right now."

"Senator, we have laws on the books from the Geneva Conventions into the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and then underneath that you have layers in which standard or temporary rules of engagement are put into place. We fight enemies also as our generation understands that play by no rules. They use civilians as human shields -" Hegseth said as he avoided the question.

King then followed up, "So are you saying that the Geneva Convention should not be observed?"

"We follow rules, but we don't need burdensome rules of engagement that make it impossible for us to win these wars," Hegseth replied.

Later in the exchange, King said, "You're saying two different things: you are saying we follow rules but we don't have to follow the rules in all cases, is that correct? Burdensome rules?"

"Senator, I am making an important tactical distinction that war fighters will understand, that there are other goals we swear an oath to defend…." Hegseth said.

In one final attempt to get an answer, King asked again: "I just want to be clear, are we going to abide by the Geneva Convention and the prohibitions on torture or are we not? Or is it going to depend on the circumstances?"

Hegseth replied, unable to tell Senator King that he would abide by the international laws of warfare: "…What an America first national security policy is not going to do is hand its prerogatives over to international bodies that make decisions about how our men and women make decisions on the battlefield. America first understands we send Americans for a clear mission and a clear objective, we equip them properly for that objective-and we give them everything they need and then we stand behind them with the rules of engagement that allow them to fight decisively to defeat America's enemies which is why we sit quietly and peacefully in this conference room."

A valued independent member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues. In 2014, SSCI released an extensive report on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) "enhanced interrogation" techniques that concluded the CIA tortured detainees. Senator King, in response to the report, said "This is not America. This is not who we are." He also reaffirmed his opposition to torture after voting in favor of an amendment in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit the use of torture in U.S. government interrogations. The late former Senator John McCain once said, "The use of torture compromises that which most distinguishes us from our enemies -- our belief that all people, even captured enemies, possess basic human rights which are protected by international conventions the United State not only joined, but for the most part authored."

In a 2020 letter to John Ratcliffe, President Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence who was confirmed, Senator King called for clarification on his testimony regarding his position on the use of torture.

Recently, Senator King published an Op-Ed and spoke with CNN regarding his positions on the advise and consent process of Cabinet-Level nominees.

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