Congressional frustration with the Trump Administration’s lack of transparency about its policy towards Venezuela has turned bipartisan. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said lawmakers were “very frustrated” with a bipartisan House classified briefing on Oct. 30 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, reported The Hill. Turner confirmed that the Defense Department 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 with the information that was being provided. It was a bipartisan briefing, but people were not happy with the level of information that was provided, and certainly the level of legal justification that was provided,” Turner said during an Oct. 31 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“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-CO), a former U.S. Army officer, told reporters Thursday morning, Oct. 30.
In another sign of bipartisan frustration, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) said on Oct. 31 they have twice written to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking copies of the execute orders, legal justifications, and lists of designated terrorist organizations tied to the Defense Department’s actions against drug-trafficking cartels.
In letters sent on Sept. 23 and Oct. 6, the senators cited statutory requirements under multiple National Defense Authorization Acts for Congressional oversight of such operations. The Pentagon hasn’t yet provided the requested documents, the senators said in a statement.
Senate Democrats, including Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-VA), this week also criticized the administration for briefing only Republicans on recent Caribbean strikes, saying the exclusion of Democrats undermines Congress’s oversight responsibilities and leaves them in the dark. “It’s not optional. It’s our freaking duty,” Warner told reporters on Oct. 30, calling the administration’s explanation “bullshit.”
