DOJ deemed it "unnecessary" to conclude whether seizing Maduro violated law, memo reveals
The Trump administration received approval from the justice department to use the military to seize Nicolás Maduro even as it declined to address whether the operation would violate international law, according to its legal memo released on Tuesday.
In a 22-page memo, T Elliot Gaiser, the top lawyer at the office of legal counsel (OLC) briefly discussed international law and the UN charter, which says a nation cannot use force inside another country without its consent, a self-defense rationale or the permission from the UN security council.
But Gaiser stopped short of deciding whether the operation violated international law, arguing it did not matter as long as Donald Trump had the authority under domestic law to authorize the operation.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/maduro-international-law-memo
Further proof that this administration has little regard for the law… as if we needed it.
