Warner renews call for Hegseth to resign

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D) says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should resign. 

“As opposed to being this big tough guy that says the buck stops with me, whenever there’s controversy, he tries to pawn it off on someone else,” Warner said.

Warner said a recent inspector general’s report proves that Hegseth put Virginians' lives at risk when he discussed sensitive information about a strike in Yemen on a Signal group chat earlier this year. 

“I’d heard from sailors' families in Norfolk who were frankly pissed off that their sons and daughters could have been put in harm's way,” Warner told reporters on Dec. 4. 

Plus, Warner said he has concerns over Hegseth’s role in strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean. Lawmakers are investigating a follow-up strike on a boat that killed survivors of the initial strike, something some argue is against international law. 

“From the secretary, we’ve had two or three different stories,” said Warner. “You don’t blow up people that are no longer combatants, even if you accept the fact there could’ve been drugs on the boat, if they are in the water swimming, how are they still combatants?”

8News reached out to the offices of all five Republican members of Virginia’s congressional delegation and asked if they still have confidence in Hegseth, but never heard back from any of them.