US Department of Justice allowed Trump to strike targets involved in Venezuelan drug cartels - CNN
Kyiv • UNN
The Trump administration has prepared a classified legal opinion justifying lethal strikes against a wide range of drug cartels. The opinion argues that the president has the right to authorize such actions because the cartels' activities pose an immediate threat to the safety of Americans.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has developed a classified legal document justifying strikes against targets involved in Venezuelan drug cartels. The US Department of Justice's conclusion states that the president has the right to authorize such strikes because the cartels' activities pose an immediate threat to the safety of Americans, CNN reports, citing sources, writes UNN.
Details
The Trump administration has prepared a classified legal opinion justifying lethal strikes against a secret and broad list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers
The opinion, prepared by the US Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel and previously unpublished, states that "the president has the right to authorize the use of lethal force against a wide range of cartels because they pose an immediate threat to Americans," the publication writes.
The list of cartels goes beyond those the administration has publicly identified as terrorist organizations
Legal experts noted that "this seems to justify an endless war against a secret list of groups, giving the president the authority to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and immediately kill them without trial."
Traditionally, drug traffickers have been treated as criminals entitled to due process and defense. The Coast Guard typically interdicted drug vessels and arrested smugglers within the bounds of the law.
If the OLC opinion allowing strikes against cartels is as broad as it appears, it would mean that the Department of Justice has interpreted the president as having such extraordinary powers that he alone can decide to wage a war far broader than the one Congress authorized after the 9/11 attacks
Under this logic, any small, medium, or large group that smuggles drugs into the US - the administration can claim that this is an attack on the United States and respond with lethal force
According to sources, the Department of Defense's memo to lawmakers last week, outlining the legal basis for a series of strikes on vessels in the Caribbean (including the assertion that the US is in "armed conflict" with cartels and that the president has determined that cartel smugglers are "unlawful combatants"), relied heavily on the OLC's opinion.
Lawmakers have repeatedly asked the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense for a copy of the legal opinion, including last week, but the agencies have not yet provided it to Congress
The official nominated to be the Army's top lawyer, Charles Young, told lawmakers on Tuesday during a hearing that the OLC opinion was prepared with the participation of lawyers from all US national security services.
Senator, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel opinion was obtained through an interagency working group of lawyers that included the CIA, the State Department, the White House Counsel, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense General Counsel, the uniformed judge advocates who participated in that decision, and the Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion on this matter, ma'am
But Young said the White House should release the opinion to lawmakers.
This is a matter that belongs to the president under his Article 2 powers - to provide this information to Congress
At this point, it is not within my power, given my position
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the OLC opinion.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers during a hearing that she would not discuss any opinions the Department of Justice may or may not have provided when asked about the legality of strikes on vessels in the Caribbean.
Lawyers' concerns
To date, the US military has carried out at least four strikes on vessels operating in the Caribbean, killing people the Trump administration claims are "linked" to drug cartels that have been designated as terrorist organizations in recent months.