Bipartisan senators demand Pentagon release orders on Caribbean boat strikes
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A pair of bipartisan senators are calling on Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to hand over copies of orders to attack attack ships allegedly carrying narco-terrorists in the Caribbean.
Sens. Jack Reed, D-I., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., released two letters they sent to Hegseth in recent weeks in response to repeated attacks on suspected drug vessels.
The first letter, published on September 23, explained the legal requirements for congressional control over the military’s executed orders; this included that copies of the orders must be provided to congressional defense committees within 15 days of issuance.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry did not comply with this requirement,” the letter states.
HEGSETH SAID THAT THE ARMY MADE A NEW ATTACK ON THE BOAT ALLEGED TO BE A NARCO TERRORISM
A pair of bipartisan senators are urging Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to hand over copies of orders to attack boats in the Caribbean. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The second letter, published on October 6, requests a written opinion from the Ministry of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) on the local or international legal basis for the conduct of strikes and related operations.
Reports indicate that the OLC has put forward a legal opinion justifying the strikes, which many MPs have been demanding in recent weeks.
The senators’ letter also requested a complete list of “all terrorist organizations and drug trafficking organizations with which the President has determined that the United States is engaged in a non-international armed conflict and against whom lethal military force may be used.”
“To date, these documents have not been submitted,” Reed’s office said in a press release Friday.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on the Trump administration to release information about the attacks.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the administration Thursday after it excluded Democrats from briefings on the strikes, calling the move “indefensible and dangerous.”
SEN WARNER SLAMS TRUMP ADMIN FOR LEAVING DEMOCRATS OUT OF BRIEFINGS ON BOAT ATTACKS: ‘DEEPLY PROBLEMS’
Senators Jack Reed and Roger Wicker sent two letters to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth in response to repeated attacks on suspected drug ships. (Reuters)
On Wednesday, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also penned a letter requesting a review of the legal justifications behind the series of boat attacks that they say appear to violate many laws.
“Drug trafficking is a horrific crime that has devastating effects on American families and communities and must be prosecuted. However, the President’s actions to hold alleged drug traffickers accountable must still comply with the law,” the letter states.
The strikes also include Sen. Sen., R-Ky. He also faced scrutiny from Republicans, including Rand Paul; They also expressed concern about the killing of people without due process and the possibility of innocent people being killed.
Paul cited Coast Guard statistics showing that a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The senator also argued that if the administration plans to go to war with Venezuela after targeting boats it claims were carrying drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it should ask Congress for a declaration of war.
In the House of Representatives, R-Ky. His representative, Thomas Massie, made similar statements.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on the Trump administration to release information about the attacks. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A report released Friday suggested the U.S. military was planning to attack military facilities in Venezuela, but President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the report was inaccurate.
This comes after Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the US military had attacked another boat carrying alleged narco-terrorists. The attacks were carried out on Trump’s orders in the Eastern Pacific region and killed four people on board.
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This was the 14th attack on suspected drug vessels since September. A total of 61 people were reported to have died, three survived, among whom at least two were later repatriated.
The Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence that drugs were on the ship.
