Lawmakers have not been presented any evidence to back the Trump administration’s assertion that the military strikes against boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific were carrying illegal narcotics, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
On Friday’s episode of MSNBC’s Deadline, host Nicolle Wallace asked Blumenthal: “What briefings have you received on the success of striking drug traffickers? Have you seen evidence or images of drugs being found on the boats that have been struck?”
“What briefings? Zero,” Blumenthal replied.
“And as you may know — I think it’s public by now — there was a briefing for Republican senators only, which is unprecedented.
“So we’ve seen no evidence — none whatsoever — as to who is in these boats, … who are manning or operating them, what they’re carrying, and where they’re headed,” he added.
President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday held a Republicans-only briefing about U.S. strikes on alleged drug vessels near Venezuela.
On Thursday, War Department officials met with the House Armed Services Committee to address bipartisan congressional requests for greater legal justification regarding the strikes.
Military lawyers were removed from the briefing shortly before it began.
The abrupt change and lack of tangible information left many of the representatives frustrated, and Blumenthal said the meeting was ultimately “unconvincing and virtually uninformative.”
“Nor have we received any briefing as to what their strategy is in amassing one-seventh of our Navy — literally one-seventh of all our naval power — in the vicinity of Venezuela,” he said.
“There was a briefing yesterday in the House for Democratic, as well as Republican, members of Congress.
“And my discussions with those members of Congress indicates that it was completely unconvincing and virtually uninformative,” Blumenthal said.
“So this administration is concealing facts — if it has facts that would justify such strikes.”
According to the Trump administration, which has faced scrutiny regarding the legality of the strikes, the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
President Donald Trump has threatened a ground assault on Venezuela, confirmed that covert operations were way inside the country, and ordered nuclear-capable bombers to circle its coast — an extraordinary show of force seemingly aimed at pressuring Maduro to resign.
The closed-door hearings come as the Senate is preparing to vote again to rein in Trump, as both Democrat and Republicans representatives are concerned the continued action could lead to a full military conflict with Venezuela.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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