GOP senators urge Pentagon to declassify drug boat strike video after Hegseth says footage will stay secret

"My default is always for more transparency, because if you don't release it, then there's more conspiracy theories and people wondering about why you're hiding it, so that would be my preference," Cornyn, R-Texas, said Tuesday on "The Faulkner Focus." 

Hegseth, however, said that "appropriate" congressional committees would see the footage.

Graham, R-S.C., defended the Trump administration's strikes against the alleged drug smugglers but also suggested the video should be released for transparency.

"Release it, make your own decisions. This is lawful. I have every confidence that what they're doing is no different than what Bush did," he said, referring to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama during President George H.W. Bush's administration.

"Nobody in Congress accused the military leadership under President Bush 41 of being a war criminal for invading Panama without congressional authorization…" Graham continued.

"I don't think most Americans give a damn about the video. I'd like all of us to see it. Most Americans want to know what's going to happen next. I want to know what's going to happen next. Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be if it's not and, if he goes, what's going to happen next? I'd like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes."

The Sept. 2 strike marked the Trump administration's first publicly acknowledged strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean Sea.

Fox News' Rachel Wolf and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.