Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said that lawmakers were “very frustrated” with a bipartisan House classified briefing Thursday on the U.S. military’s strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and in the East Pacific, echoing displeasure raised by Democrats.
Turner, who attended the members-only House Armed Services Committee Thursday morning, confirmed that the Defense Department (DOD) lawyers, who were set to explain the legal rationale the administration is using to strike the vessels, were not in the room.
“People were very frustrated in the information that was being provided. It was a bipartisan briefing, but people were not happy with the level information that was provided, and certainly the level of legal justification that was provided,” Turner said during a Friday appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
House Democrats who attended the briefing on the strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats, a military campaign that so far has killed at least 61 people, were not satisfied with the answers they received and said the administration was unclear on the legality of the operations.
“You know what I heard today was a tactical brief. I heard no strategy, no end game, no assessment of how they are going to end the flow of drugs into the United States, which needs to happen, by the way,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a former U.S. Army officer, told reporters Thursday morning.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said lawmakers were briefed by “some policy folks” from the administration and Rear Adm. Brian H. Bennett, the deputy director for Special Operations for the Joint Staff.
“So they admitted that all of the narcotics coming out of this part of the world is cocaine. They, you know, talked a little bit about the connection between cocaine and fentanyl, although I’m not convinced that what they said was accurate,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.). “And I think it goes to show that this is actually not about addressing fentanyl and the deaths of Americans, which is a really huge problem that we should be addressing.”
The White House pushed back on the Democrats, saying they are peddling “bogus claims” about the campaign to “distract” the public from the government shutdown.
Anna Kelly, the White House spokesperson, said the DOD has held nine “bipartisan” briefings on the boat strikes and the Pentagon “individually works through requests” from lawmakers.
The strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats have continued this week with the U.S. military killing four “narco-terrorists” in the Eastern Pacific.
The campaign against the vessels comes as the Trump administration has indicated its openness to toppling the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. military has amassed a large presence in the Caribbean, dispatching spy planes, at least one submarine, warships and recently ordering the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to the region.
Turner, who served as the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said “everyone” in the briefing is “very” concerned about the drug trade and its impact on the U.S., but that the administration did not provide ample answers to the questions raised by lawmakers.
“Yesterday, there were not very good answers as to what is the standard, what is occurring with the designation of cartels as terrorist organizations,” Turner said. “We understand that the structure of these cartels and designating the terrorist organizations makes sense. But what is the standard? What is occurring – how is it being determined as to how military force is being utilized and being applied?”
