Senior Democrat says Pentagon didn't present conclusive evidence alleged drug smugglers killed in strike were gang membe

[LetMyPeopleVote]

This was a war crime.

In briefing to the hill, DoD did not present conclusive evidence that the targets of last week’s attack were members of Tren de Aragua, top Armed Services Dem and sources say. Briefers also acknowledged the boat turned around before being struck. www.cnn.com/2025/09/11/p...

— Natasha Bertrand (@natashabertrand.bsky.social) 2025-09-11T15:01:19.821Z

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/11/politics/senior-democrat-pentagon-strike-gang-members-evidence

Defense Department officials briefing congressional staff on Tuesday about last week’s US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean did not present conclusive evidence that the targets of the attack were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to the senior Democratic member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and three people familiar with the briefing.

“They have offered no positive identification that the boat was Venezuelan, nor that its crew were members of Tren de Aragua or any other cartel,” Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Tuesday after his staff were briefed by DoD.

The briefers also acknowledged that they could not determine exactly where the targets were headed, two of the sources said. Whereas Trump has said they were en route to the US, Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially said, “these particular drugs were probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean, at which point they just contribute to the instability these countries are facing.”

Another of the sources said the briefers disclosed that the boat turned around at one point after appearing to spot a military aircraft above that had been watching them. The boat turning around, reported earlier by the New York Times, raises more questions about whether it posed an immediate threat to the US that necessitated military action......

Pressed repeatedly on the legal justification for the strike, the briefers invoked the president’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to use military force when it is in the national interest, the sources said. The briefers said that lawyers had signed off on the attack but would not disclose which lawyers or what their reasoning was, the sources added.

[Irish_Dem]

1. So Trump shot people who were surrendering in the back.

Cold blooded murder.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Democrats pressure Trump to show proof deadly boat strike was legal

The incident has frustrated lawmakers from both parties who have questioned why the administration has not publicly disclosed evidence to back up its claims.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/10/trump-drug-boat-strike-congress/

Democrats are amplifying pressure on the Trump administration to produce evidence that last week’s military strike in the Caribbean Sea killed 11 drug smugglers, which the president has claimed, as lawmakers from both parties question the legal basis for the surprise use of force.

On Wednesday, more than 20 Democrats petitioned President Donald Trump to clarify a host of facts about the operation, including the military assets involved and how the administration confirmed the targets were part of a drug network. Their outreach followed a closed-door briefing by the Pentagon to bipartisan staff from the principal national security committees, a meeting that two people familiar with the matter characterized as vague and unsatisfying......

In announcing the strike on Sept. 2, Trump said the vessel’s crew had been “positively identified” as members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal group his administration has sought to connect to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and violent crime in the U.S. He claimed later that the U.S. government has “tapes” of the suspects speaking, but to date the administration has not released evidence verifying who — and what — was aboard the boat blown up by U.S. forces.

Kaine and other Democrats have cast doubt on the administration’s statements and questioned why the boat wasn’t stopped by a U.S. vessel, consistent with long-standing efforts to interdict suspected drug smugglers......

The Pentagon sent no lawyers to the Hill for Tuesday’s briefing, which these people interpreted as a deliberate effort to avoid addressing the strike’s legality. During the meeting, defense officials cited the president’s broad authority under Article II of the Constitution to conduct foreign policy deemed in the national interest and said lawyers within the administration had deemed the attack legal, the people familiar with the matter said, noting that the Pentagon’s representatives declined to identify the lawyers or provide further documentation.

I wonder if no lawyers came because the trump Defense Department could not find any lawyers who would/could defend this attack

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. MaddowBlog-As Democrats press White House on deadly boat strike, Republicans sit on their hands

A week after the Trump administration killed suspected drug dealers in international waters, Democrats have some pointed questions. GOP senators do not.

MURDER AT SEA.
As Democrats press White House on deadly boat strike, Republicans sit on their hands!
A week after the Trump administration killed suspected drug dealers in international waters, Democrats have some pointed questions. GOP senators do not. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— drgk1 (@drgk1.bsky.social) 2025-09-11T19:52:35.222Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/democrats-press-white-house-deadly-boat-strike-republicans-sit-hands-rcna230630

Complicating matters, The New York Times reported that the boat in question “had altered its course and appeared to have turned around before the attack started.” And while the reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, it raised the possibility that U.S. officials, acting on the president’s order, launched a deadly military strike against civilians who were retreating — making it that much more difficult to suggest they were an imminent threat.

As The Washington Post reported, quite a few Senate Democrats have some questions in need of answers. From the article:

On Wednesday, more than 20 Democrats petitioned President Donald Trump to clarify a host of facts about the operation, including the military assets involved and how the administration confirmed the targets were part of a drug network. Their outreach followed a closed-door briefing by the Pentagon to bipartisan staff from the principal national security committees, a meeting that two people familiar with the matter characterized as vague and unsatisfying.

......n all, 25 Democratic senators asked the president 10 straightforward questions, including:

“Who were the individuals targeted in the strike, and what intelligence does the Administration have regarding their identities, any imminent threat they did or did not pose, what crimes they were accused or suspected of, and what alleged affiliations they had with a narcotrafficking criminal organization?”

“How were the individuals targeted in the strike positively identified as lawful targets for lethal military force? What legal review was conducted for assessing whether the use of lethal force in this context and against these particular criminal suspects was lawful under both domestic and international law?”

“What assessment, if any, was conducted regarding whether the use of lethal force in this context could undermine intelligence-gathering opportunities that would come from capturing potential traffickers alive?”

Zero Republicans signed on to the letter.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. MaddowBlog-Why Trump's math fail on the deadly boat strike was more than just an embarrassing flub

Two weeks after the administration killed suspected drug dealers in international waters, the president tried to defend the strike. It didn’t go well.

Why Trump’s math fail on the deadly boat strike was more than just an embarrassing flub www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-09-15T20:13:26.870Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-math-fail-deadly-boat-strike-was-just-embarrassing-flub-rcna231395

This came to mind over the weekend because Bondi apparently isn’t the only one who’s struggling with drug-related math. HuffPost reported:

President Donald Trump on Sunday tried to justify the fatal U.S. strike on a Venezuelan boat by claiming that 300 million people, presumably Americans, died from drugs last year. He was off by almost 300 million.

During a brief Q&A, a reporter noted that the president of Venezuela has argued that the U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan boat was “illegal.” Trump replied, “What’s illegal are the drugs that were on the boat, and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs. That’s what’s illegal.”

Reporter: The president of Venezuela called the strike on the boat illegal

Trump: What’s illegal is the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs

— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T01:00:10.373Z

So, a few things.

First, the actual number of people who died in the U.S. from drug overdoses last year was roughly 75,000. That total is a tragedy, and officials have a responsibility to take steps to reduce avoidable fatalities — but the gap between 75,000 and 300 million is enormous.

Second, I realize that Trump’s approach to statistics and arithmetic has been a mess for many years, but it really ought to occur to him that such an exaggeration sounds absurd, since illicit drugs did not kill nearly 90% of the U.S. population in 2024. (Bill Lueders recently wrote for The Bulwark, “Whatever the claim, the president has the numbers to prove it, even if he has to make them up.”).....

Complicating matters, The New York Times reported that the boat in question “had altered its course and appeared to have turned around before the attack started.” And while the reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, that raises the possibility that U.S. officials, acting on the president’s order, launched a deadly military strike against civilians who were retreating — making it that much more difficult to characterize the boat as an imminent threat.

As Senate Democrats press the White House for answers, Trump and his team have had two weeks to come up with some sensible answers. So far, they don’t appear to have come up with anything but a preposterous statistic.

[malaise]

6. Duh!

Rec

[D_Master81]

7. Suspected

They were suspected drug dealers so close enough. Kill em says the orange king

[mvd]

8. That must be against international law

You can’t just strike boats like that. I don’t even recognize this country anymore and it’s both depressing and outrageous!