Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said Secretary Hegseth has decided that politics is more important than our national security and innocent children’s lives. She said withholding this report until after the election is not only disgraceful, it is cowardly. She said Congress and the American people deserve full transparency and accountability around this attack, and she will not rest until they have it. The New York Democrat posted the statement on Thursday. A matching release appeared on her Senate site the same day.
“Secretary Hegseth has decided that politics is more important than our national security and innocent children’s lives,” Gillibrand wrote Thursday. “Withholding this report until after the election is not only disgraceful, it is cowardly. We have waited months – release the report. Congress and the American people deserve full transparency and accountability around this attack, and I will not rest until we have it. If Secretary Hegseth and this administration put as much effort into protecting civilians as they do into dodging accountability, those children might still be alive, and we wouldn’t be in this reckless war with Iran.” The post does not cite a specific statute or quantify casualties. The characterizations are hers.
The statement is documented on her Senate site. A release states that following reports that top Pentagon officials intend to withhold the results of the Defense Department’s investigation into the U.S. bombing of an Iranian elementary school until after the midterm elections, Gillibrand released the statement. The release identifies the school as Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab and describes the strike as the worst civilian casualty incident caused by the U.S. military in decades. It notes that the investigation was reportedly submitted in April. Gillibrand’s post matches the release language. It does not add new details.
Gillibrand has previously pressed for the report. On July 13 she led colleagues in a letter calling for the swift completion and release of the investigation, which was reportedly submitted in April but remained under review. On May 14 she questioned CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper about reports of strikes on schools and hospitals. Those actions are documented on her Senate site. The Thursday post does not cite them. It addresses the reported delay until after the election.
The strike occurred on Feb. 28. Preliminary reporting indicated that a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck the school. Investigators reportedly identified outdated intelligence and other failures. No Pentagon release posted this week confirms the status of the investigation, the planned release date, or the findings. The Bloomberg report cited in the post is the source of the delay claim. Gillibrand’s statement treats the reported intention as a decision by Hegseth. That attribution is hers.
No Defense Department release posted this week responds to Gillibrand’s statement or addresses the timing of the report. Earlier Pentagon comments described the investigation as ongoing. The Thursday release and post are the records of her call for immediate release. They do not cite a statutory deadline for the report.
Other members have addressed civilian casualties in the Iran conflict. Those posts and letters are on their accounts and sites. Gillibrand’s statement is limited to the reported withholding of this investigation and the characterization of the decision as disgraceful and cowardly.
“Politics is more important than our national security,” “disgraceful,” “cowardly,” and “I will not rest until we have it” are Gillibrand’s. The Thursday post, the Senate release, the July letter, and the absence of a same-day Pentagon confirmation of the release timeline are the records. The gap is between a senator stating that the secretary has decided to withhold the report for political reasons, and the absence of an official Defense Department statement confirming or denying the intention on a government page.