There are standard procedures when U.S. officials identify boats suspected of carrying drugs. The process involves stopping and searching the vessels, seizing drugs, and arresting and questioning those on board. Last week, the Trump administration did not follow standard procedures when it saw a boat with suspected Venezuelan drug smugglers.
Instead, the administration launched a military strike that killed 11 people in international waters.
Were the 11 people on the boat actually members of the Tren de Aragua gang, as the president claimed? We don’t know. Were there actual drugs on the boat? We don’t know that, either. Was it legal for Donald Trump’s administration to use lethal force against a civilian boat in international waters? There’s reason to believe it was not.
JD Vance was told that the operation might’ve been a war crime. “I don’t give a s— what you call it,” the vice president replied.
Complicating matters, The New York Times reported that the boat in question “had altered its course and appeared to have turned around before the attack started.” And while the reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, it raised the possibility that U.S. officials, acting on the president’s order, launched a deadly military strike against civilians who were retreating — making it that much more difficult to suggest they were an imminent threat.
As The Washington Post reported, quite a few Senate Democrats have some questions in need of answers. From the article:
On Wednesday, more than 20 Democrats petitioned President Donald Trump to clarify a host of facts about the operation, including the military assets involved and how the administration confirmed the targets were part of a drug network. Their outreach followed a closed-door briefing by the Pentagon to bipartisan staff from the principal national security committees, a meeting that two people familiar with the matter characterized as vague and unsatisfying.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who’s helping spearhead the effort, told the Post: “Either they’re going to provide me the facts or they’re going to refuse to, and if they refuse to provide the facts, I think I am more likely to get more votes on a war powers resolution.” (This would not be Kaine’s first effort to limit Trump’s use of the military without congressional approval.)
In all, 25 Democratic senators asked the president 10 straightforward questions, including: Zero Republicans signed on to the letter. The Democratic signatories requested a response by close of business on Sept. 17. Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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