WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration reportedly briefed Senate Republicans about the strikes on alleged narcoterrorists, with a Senate Democrat saying that Democratic members were not told about the meeting on Wednesday.
The reported briefing showed Republicans classified memos from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel that described the legal justification for the boat strikes in waters off South America.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner said that it is a “slap in the face the Congress’s war powers responsibilities and to the men and women who serve this country,” by not including Democrats in the briefing.
“Shutting Democrats out of a briefing on U.S. military strikes and withholding the legal justification for those strikes from half the Senate is indefensible and dangerous,” Warner said in his statement.
“Decisions about the use of American military force are not campaign strategy sessions, and they are not the private property of one political party,” he wrote. “For any administration to treat them that way erodes our national security and flies in the face of Congress’s constitutional obligation to oversee matters of war and peace.”
Warner said that Democrats were not given access to the legal justification memo from the Justice Department, demanding that Democrats be given the same briefing.
“The administration must immediately provide to Democrats the same briefing and the OLC opinion justifying these strikes, as Rubio personally promised me that he would in a face-to-face meeting on Capitol Hill just last week,” Warner said.
This comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced another kinetic lethal strike on Wednesday against alleged narcoterrorists in the Eastern Pacific, killing four.
Hegseth said the boat was “involved in illicit narcotic smuggling,” in a social media post on X.
The U.S. has carried out at least 13 strikes against alleged drug vessels, killing dozens. The strikes are a part of a military campaign by the Trump administration to target alleged drug smugglers.
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The House Armed Services Committee is expected to receive a classified briefing from Pentagon officials on Thursday regarding the boat strikes.