Anyone still doubting that the weekend’s “no quarter” narrative against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is part of the “Don’t Give Up the Ship” operation launched with what is now known as the “Seditious Six” video, can doubt no more. The reemergence of former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on network evening news all but confirms it.
Watch as the CBS Evening News brings the “Dirty 51” alumnus in from the cold and tees him up for denunciation of both the mission in the Caribbean and the strike in question:
WATCH: CBS trots out Dirty 51 co-signatory Leon Panetta to question overall Venezuela strategy and bolster the "No Quarter" narrative. pic.twitter.com/9xWjLEGD0e
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 2, 2025
JOHN DICKERSON: Joining us now from Monterey Bay, California is Leon Panetta who served as Secretary of Defense under President Obama. Mr. Secretary, since you had the job, knowing what you know now, what would you want to know as Secretary of Defense about what happened?
LEON PANETTA: Well, I’d like to know what exactly is the strategy here. We’ve just deployed a very significant force to the Caribbean. 15,000 men and women in uniform are deployed there. We have a carrier strike group there. I'm not quite sure what the strategy is. Whether it is aimed at regime change for Maduro, or whether this is to try to stop narco trafficking from Venezuela.
MAURICE DuBOIS: Based on what you see here, Mr. Secretary, was that second strike- was that a war crime?
PANETTA: The second strike is a war crime because these individuals were injured, they were in the water, the basic rules of war that are involved here make very clear that you do not strike wounded people in the water in order to kill them. You basically then are responsible for trying to make sure that you do everything to try to protect their lives at that point. And that is the concern right now, whether or not this really violated the rules of war and constituted a criminal act.
DuBOIS: Okay. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Thanks so much for the insight.
PANETTA: Good to be with you.
Panetta was brought in at the end of Weijia Jiang’s laundering of the now-debunked Washington Post report accusing Hegseth of committing a war crime when he ordered the destruction of a Cartel of the Suns narcovessel on September 2nd. As a credentialed member of the bicoastal elite, Panetta’s presence is intended to lend further gravitas to the accusations against Hegseth.
The problem with this rationale is that Panetta has no gravitas left to give. Whatever credibility he had was squandered both upon signing the Dirty 51 letter claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop (in FBI custody and confirmed to be authentic two years prior) had “all the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.” The letter gave the media and Big Tech all the cover they needed in order to make the Laptop From Hell go away ahead of the 2020 presidential election- a huge boost for Democrat nominee Joe Biden. As our own Tim Graham would later note- Panetta showed no remorse after the Dirty 51 letter was soundly debunked. In the face of overwhelming evidence, Panetta chose to stay dirty.
At the end of "Special Report," Fox's Bret Baier asked Mollie Hemingway, Byron York, and Jeff Mason (Reuters) for final thoughts on Panetta's stunning refusal to acknowledge that the Hunter Biden laptop was authentic and not a Russian disinformation plot. pic.twitter.com/wY02tryFB3
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) October 14, 2023
Panetta’s approval and furtherance of the “No Quarter” narrative, therefore, can only serve to solidify it as yet another hoax gleefully and uncritically disseminated by the American media. More dangerous, still: this hoax is in service of the ongoing “Don’t Give Up the Ship” operation intended to undermine confidence in one of America’s remaining high-trust institutions and cast President Donald Trump as an enemy of the Republic. The long and ignominious downfall of the former Tiffany Network continues.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on the CBS Evening News on Monday, December 1st, 2025:
MAURICE DuBOIS: Late today, President Trump convened a meeting of his national security team to talk about Venezuela and what the United States will do next.
JOHN DICKERSON: CBS News has confirmed the participants included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Weijia Jiang is at The White House.
WEIJIA JIANG: Tonight the U.S. continues its military buildup in the Caribbean- moving the USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, to St. Thomas. And over the weekend, President Trump posted that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered closed in its entirety.
DONALD TRUMP: Because we consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country.
JIANG: Does your warning mean that an air strike is imminent or shall we not read it that way?
TRUMP: Don't read anything into it.
JIANG: One of the 21 drug boat strikes on suspected narcoterrorists is now under scrutiny. The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Hegseth allegedly gave an order to kill everybody on board before the first vessel attack on September 2nd. When two passengers survived, a second strike unfolded to apparently fulfill Hegseth's instructions and the two men were blown apart in the water.
TRUMP: No, I wouldn’t have wanted that- not a second strike.
JIANG: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed a second strike was ordered by the Special Operations commander overseeing the mission: Admiral Mitch Bradley.
KAROLINE LEAVITT: Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed.
JIANG: So is the initial order from Secretary Hegseth, everyone be killed?
LEAVITT: I would reject that the Secretary of War ever said that.
JIANG: Hegseth called the story “fabricated and derogatory”. On Sunday night, he posted this fake children's book cover to make light of it. Lawmakers in both parties vowed to investigate whether the second strike was a war crime.
MIKE TURNER: If that occurred, that would be very serious and I agreed that that would- would be an illegal act.
TIM KAINE: This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true.
JIANG: In other news about President Trump, his doctor released a summary of Trump's MRI which he says was done as a preventive measure. The physician said Trump's cardiovascular and abdominal imaging is perfectly normal, though The White House did not release the actual report from the radiologist.
DuBOIS: Okay. Weijia Jiang at The White House, thank you.
DICKERSON: Joining us now from Monterey Bay, California is Leon Panetta who served as Secretary of Defense under President Obama. Mr. Secretary, since you had the job, knowing what you know now, what would you want to know as Secretary of Defense about what happened?
LEON PANETTA: Well, I’d like to know what exactly is the strategy here. We’ve just deployed a very significant force to the Caribbean. 15,000 men and women in uniform are deployed there. We have a carrier strike group there. I'm not quite sure what the strategy is. Whether it is aimed at regime change for Maduro, or whether this is to try to stop narco trafficking from Venezuela.
DuBOIS: Based on what you see here, Mr. Secretary, was that second strike- was that a war crime?
PANETTA: The second strike is a war crime because these individuals were injured, they were in the water, the basic rules of war that are involved here make very clear that you do not strike wounded people in the water in order to kill them. You basically then are responsible for trying to make sure that you do everything to try to protect their lives at that point. And that is the concern right now, whether or not this really violated the rules of war and constituted a criminal act.
DuBOIS: Okay. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Thanks so much for the insight.
PANETTA: Good to be with you.
