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Why are DoJ Legal Opinions Justifying Lethal Force Against Venezuelan Civilians a Secret?
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:30 pm
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:30 pm
President Trump has, so far, refused to release the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) legal opinions justifying the lethal strikes against Venezuelan drug traffickers.
DoJ lawyers have supposedly written opinions supporting the declaration of cartels as “unlawful combatants,” and therefore targetable on-site without showing any hostility.
History shows these secret OLC memos are often built on shaky ground, as seen in the post-9/11 torture memos that authorized “enhanced interrogation” techniques later discredited and withdrawn by the Obama administration because they violated U.S. law against torture.
Similarly, the Bush-era OLC opinion denying Taliban fighters prisoner-of-war protections under the Geneva Conventions was overturned by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld because it contradicted both domestic and international law.
Even the Obama administration’s secret OLC justification for the drone strike on American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki faced intense scrutiny and was deemed legally dubious by critics for bypassing due process.
Ultimately, it’s far more harmful to withhold from the public the legal basis for some of the most consequential decisions that compromise our security, not to mention our standing in the world.
Regardless of party, we are entitled to know what advice these actions are based on.
DoJ lawyers have supposedly written opinions supporting the declaration of cartels as “unlawful combatants,” and therefore targetable on-site without showing any hostility.
History shows these secret OLC memos are often built on shaky ground, as seen in the post-9/11 torture memos that authorized “enhanced interrogation” techniques later discredited and withdrawn by the Obama administration because they violated U.S. law against torture.
Similarly, the Bush-era OLC opinion denying Taliban fighters prisoner-of-war protections under the Geneva Conventions was overturned by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld because it contradicted both domestic and international law.
Even the Obama administration’s secret OLC justification for the drone strike on American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki faced intense scrutiny and was deemed legally dubious by critics for bypassing due process.
Ultimately, it’s far more harmful to withhold from the public the legal basis for some of the most consequential decisions that compromise our security, not to mention our standing in the world.
Regardless of party, we are entitled to know what advice these actions are based on.
21
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:33 pm to RFK
No one here cares. The sun god is infallible
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:34 pm to Bamanjo
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:35 pm to Bamanjo
quote:
No one here cares
About you and the OP and what you think? You're right, I don't. At all
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:37 pm to FredBear
I’m with you! All hail the sun god!
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:40 pm to RFK
There is a right way to do it, but it would involve the coast guard attempting an interdiction and the smugglers failing to cooperate. Apparently the method that had settled law to support it was rejected.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:42 pm to SpencerRob
quote:
Apparently the method that had settled law to support it was rejected.
Because it is not about stopping drugs. It's about a show of force to topple Maduro.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:42 pm to RFK
What would you like the poli board to do about it?
We are here to make you leftists happy of course.
We are here to make you leftists happy of course.
This post was edited on 10/27/25 at 2:44 pm
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:43 pm to RFK
Probably because the collection methods and intelligence on them is classified.
Also they’ve been designated as terrorists so they aren’t civilians
Also they’ve been designated as terrorists so they aren’t civilians
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:43 pm to Bunk Moreland
If you are scared, get a dog.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:44 pm to SpencerRob
quote:
There is a right way to do it, but it would involve the coast guard attempting an interdiction and the smugglers failing to cooperate. Apparently the method that had settled law to support it was rejected.
Why is that. The “right” way?
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:47 pm to Round Earther
Because that's what a civilized country would do. Now, some people are saying the boats are too fast and we can't catch them. Somebody else on here also made a good point that the drugs go to Caribbean islands and are then smuggled here various ways, so it's impossible to catch them at that point. But, I also think that cuts somewhat against the justification for murdering these guys off the coast of South America -- they were never actually going to the U.S. in the first place.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:49 pm to Bunk Moreland
quote:
This is the narco terror executive order.
I can't find lethal authorization in there. Did I miss it? Trump seems to think it matters if the alleged bad guys are international waters or on the land of another country.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:51 pm to Bamanjo
quote:
No one here cares
I do. Voted for DJT twice and would do it again and again. But this bothers me. It just does.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:51 pm to RFK
quote:
The sun god is infallible
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:52 pm to Bunk Moreland
quote:
Because that's what a civilized country would do.
Says who?
quote:
Now, some people are saying the boats are too fast and we can't catch them. Somebody else on here also made a good point that the drugs go to Caribbean islands and are then smuggled here various ways, so it's impossible to catch them at that point.
Maybe. Either way they’re drug smugglers and their products are more harmful to our citizens and society than anything Putin or Bin Laden could ever dream up. I say keep killing them.
quote:
But, I also think that cuts somewhat against the justification for murdering these guys off the coast of South America -- they were never actually going to the U.S. in the first place.
I wouldn’t call it murder.
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:53 pm to SFVtiger
quote:
I do. Voted for DJT twice and would do it again and again. But this bothers me. It just does.
This gives me some hope
Posted on 10/27/25 at 2:53 pm to RFK
Your concern is noted
But for some reason this concern was missing when the US killed other terrorists. Wonder why that is
But for some reason this concern was missing when the US killed other terrorists. Wonder why that is
Posted on 10/27/25 at 3:05 pm to hawgfaninc
True. Drone strikes during the Obama admin estimated at around 1800 worldwide.
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