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trump administration There are reportedly no plans at this time to launch military attacks inside Venezuela And told lawmakers it doesn’t yet have the legal justification to do so, like the White House Campaign The rage against Latin American drug groups continues.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House Office of Legal Counsel reportedly briefed lawmakers. ongoing operation,
in the meeting trump official CNN said that neither the “executive order” that launched the military operation in September nor the opinion of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel regarding the attacks permit attacks inside Venezuela or other territories. reports,
still, white House Legal permission is reportedly still being sought to launch future attacks inside Venezuela.
The administration is reportedly seeking a separate legal opinion from the DOJ on the land-based strikes According to CNN, it can be conducted without the need to ask Congress to authorize force.
Trump’s allies have asked the DOJ for legal guidance on expanding the military campaign, the new York Times reports,
Privately, the president has reportedly expressed some reservations about launching military action to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whom US officials accuse of ties to drug traffickers.
The Justice Department is working on a legal justification that would allow Trump to target Maduro as part of a potential military campaign, wall street journal reports,
The Justice Department declined to comment.
“President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to take over the cartels and stop the scourge of narco-terrorism from killing Americans,” a White House official said. Independent“The President continues to take action consistent with his responsibility to defend Americans and consistent with his constitutional authority. All actions fully comply with the law of armed conflict.”
The White House has alternated between chest-thumping threats of armed action against Venezuela and dismissing the possibility of conflict.
In October, the President He said he authorized covert CIA operations inside the country and claimed that ground attacks were “coming next”, only for Trump to say last week that he no consideration of strikes After all inside Venezuela, and that Doubt that America will go to war With Latin American nations.
The administration has argued that its attacks on alleged gun boats, which have killed at least 67 people, are legal and based on solid intelligence, although a growing number of group of critics Inquiries are being conducted at both the premises.
“The Trump administration is unable to offer any credible explanation for its extrajudicial and unauthorized military strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement after Wednesday’s briefing with Trump officials. “It was clear from this briefing that the Administration’s legal justifications are questionable and are meant to circumvent Congress’s constitutional power on matters of war and peace.”
The Senate will consider a bipartisan war powers resolution Thursday to prevent the president from attacking Venezuela.