Dems rage at "unsatisfactory" Trump briefing on drug boat strikes
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Rep. Seth Moulton speaks at a House Transportation Subcommittee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on July 23. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
House Democrats left a briefing on President Trump's strikes against alleged drug boats furious at the absence of lawyers to explain the administration's legal reasoning.
Why it matters: Lawmakers in both parties have for months been railing against the administration for not providing more evidence that the targets were indeed drug smugglers and that the strikes were legally justified.
- Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were excluded altogether from a briefing on Wednesday, much to their frustration.
What happened: Members of the House Armed Services Committee were briefed by officials from the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff, but no lawyers, lawmakers and aides told Axios.
- Most of the lawmakers' questions focused on the legal basis for the strikes, according to a source briefed on the meeting, with the briefers saying they couldn't answer those questions without lawyers present.
- When asked whether the administration had produced a legal opinion on the strikes, members were told that one would be released to Congress but were not given a date, the source said.
What they're saying: "There were no lawyers and it was unsatisfactory," Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), an Armed Services Committee member, told Axios after the briefing.
- "I'm walking away without an understanding of how and why they're making an assessment that the use of legal force is adequate here," Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told reporters.
- Several members said the lawyers were supposed to be at the briefing but that their presence was cancelled in the hours leading up to it. "They were pulled to something else," said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.).
- "Am I leaving satisfied?" Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said. "Absolutely not."
The other side: "Democrats are pushing bogus claims about the administration's efforts to kill narcoterrorists to distract from their decision to shut the government down and force federal employees and military servicemembers to work without pay," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Axios in a statement.
- "The Department of War has held nine bipartisan briefings on narcoterrorist strikes, with additional bipartisan briefings scheduled, and individually works through requests from the Hill," Kelly said.
- She added: "It's pathetic that these Democrats care more about running cover for foreign drug smugglers and illegal immigrants seeking taxpayer-funded health care than paying federal workers and protecting American citizens from deadly narcotics,"
Zoom out: Members of Congress in both parties have criticized the administration for carrying out more than a dozen strikes in the Pacific and Caribbean that have killed at least 57 people without seeking authorization from Congress.
- The administration has said the strikes are part of an expanding military campaign against "narco-terrorists," particularly from Venezuela, but has offered little evidence of the identity of the targets.
- Trump has declared the U.S. in "armed conflict" with drug cartels and relied upon his authority under the Constitution to take unilateral military action in defense of the U.S.
- That has resulted in bipartisan allegations from Congress that the administration is carrying out extrajudicial killings. "There's nothing that we heard in there that changes my assessment that this is completely illegal," Jacobs said after the briefing.
What's next: Armed Services Committee chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), asked if there will be another briefing on the subject, told reporters "yes."
