Durbin, Welch Lead Letter To DOJ Demanding Answers About The Legality Of Trump Administration’s Recent Boat Strikes Killing 57 People In The Caribbean Sea & Pacific Ocean
The Senators also urged DOJ to provide a briefing to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the Trump Administration’s legal justification for the strikes
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led all Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in sending a letter to Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi to demand answers about the legality of military actions ordered by President Trump that have already killed 57 individuals in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. In their letter, the Senators underscore that summarily killing criminal suspects is prohibited under domestic and international law in both peacetime and wartime.
“We request that the Department of Justice provide a copy of and brief the Senate Judiciary Committee on any and all legal opinions assessing the legality of military actions ordered by the President that have already killed 57 individuals in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean,” the Senators wrote.
“These recent strikes raise numerous questions about whether the Department provided adequate legal guidance to those involved in ordering, planning, and carrying out the killings. In accordance with the Committee’s constitutional oversight responsibilities, we ask that Committee members and staff be briefed on and afforded the opportunity to review any legal analysis produced by your Department,” the Senators continued their letter.
Between September 2 and October 28, U.S. military forces struck 14 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing a total of 57 individuals on board, leaving only three survivors. On October 18, President Trump announced two of the survivors will be returned to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador “for detention and prosecution.”
The Trump Administration has claimed that these boats are operated by “narcoterrorists” who were transporting illegal narcotics toward the U.S. Reports later noted that at least one of the vessels had changed course, turning away from the U.S., prior to the Trump Administration’s strike. The Trump Administration has claimed, without factual or legal support, that the individuals killed were “unlawful combatants” in an “armed conflict” with organizations designated by the Administration.
“Furthermore, on October 2, the administration provided Congress with a notice that declares the United States is in an ‘armed conflict’ with suspected drug traffickers whom the administration has deemed to be ‘unlawful combatants.’ Additionally, on October 15, public reporting indicated that President Trump had secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct covert action in Venezuela,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators continued the letter, chastising the Trump Administration for refusing to provide adequate justification for the strikes.
“On the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee Department of Justice oversight hearing this month, it was reported for the first time that the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) produced a classified opinion that justifies these strikes. While you refused to discuss the Department’s opinion or the legal justification for these killings at the hearing, in another hearing the nominee for General Counsel of the Army confirmed the reports of an OLC opinion on the strikes,” the Senators continued in their letter.
“According to public reporting, the Office of Legal Counsel opinion ‘appears to justify an open-ended war against a secret list of groups, giving the president power to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review.’ In other words, according to this opinion, the President can accuse someone of being a criminal, or affiliated with a group of criminals, and based on that accusation alone grant himself the power to be judge, jury, and executioner. Moreover, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have insisted that lethal strikes on suspected drug traffickers are ‘legal’ and that the military has received ‘every authorization needed’ to carry out these attacks,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators stressed that Congress, not the President, has the authority has the sole power to declare war but that even during war civilians may not be intentionally targeted.
“Pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war. Congress has not declared war or enacted a specific statutory authorization for use of force against Venezuela, Tren de Aragua, or any alleged ‘narcoterrorist’ organizations in the Western Hemisphere,” the lawmakers wrote.
“While the President has some authority to use limited military force without Congressional authorization under Article II, neither that authority nor a Congressional authorization of military force provides a basis to conduct killings of civilians, including those suspected or accused of criminal activity,” the Senators wrote.
Pointing to the facts, the Senators explain that the Trump Administration’s strikes appear to have violated several U.S. statutes, including criminal laws prohibiting murder and the deliberate killing of civilians in war.
“Based upon the reported facts, it appears the strikes may violate 18 U.S.C. § 1111, which makes it a felony to commit murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, which includes the high seas. The strikes appear to also violate § 2.11 of Executive Order 12333, which states that ‘[n]o person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination,’” the Senators wrote.
“The only other circumstances in which lethal force may be used is with respect to the lawful targeting of combatants or lawful collateral harm to civilians in the context of an armed conflict. However, no facts have been presented suggesting that an armed conflict exists or that these killings were permissible under the law of armed conflict, which prohibits the intentional killing of civilians. Such violations of the law of armed conflict are considered grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and are prohibited under domestic law as war crimes by the War Crimes Act,” the lawmakers wrote.
The Senators concluded their letter by both reiterating that drug trafficking must be addressed and warning the Trump Administration against violating U.S. and international law in carrying out strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The Senators also requested a briefing on the matter.
“Drug trafficking is a terrible crime that has had devastating impacts on American families and communities and should be prosecuted. Nonetheless, the President’s actions to hold alleged drug traffickers accountable must still conform with the law,” the Senators wrote.
“Given the gravity of the President’s claimed authority to lethally target alleged criminals he claims to be at war with, we request that you schedule a briefing prior to November 3, 2025, for members and staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Department’s legal analysis of these strikes, which can be done in an appropriately classified setting. According to public reporting, a similar classified briefing has already taken place for members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Please also provide a copy of any opinions or other analysis conducted by the Justice Department prior to the requested briefing,” the Senators wrote.
A copy of the letter is available here.
In addition to Durbin and Welch, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).
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