The Justice Department authored a secret memo saying it is relying on President Donald Trump's own words to justify the lethal boat strikes that have been carried out in international waters, according to a new report.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the memo was written by the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, and is about 40 pages long. The report indicates that it "contradicts" experts in several ways, like suggesting the strikes are in response to an armed conflict.
About 80 people have been killed in the strikes, although the Trump administration has provided little evidence justifying the attacks.
"The memo, which was completed in late summer, is said to open with a lengthy recitation of claims submitted by the White House, including that drug cartels are intentionally trying to kill Americans and destabilize the Western Hemisphere," the report reads in part. "The groups are presented not as unscrupulous businesses trying to profit from drug trafficking, but as terrorists who sell narcotics as a means of financing violence."
"Based on such claims, the memo states that Mr. Trump has legitimate authority to determine that the United States and its allies are legally in a formal state of armed conflict with 'narco-terrorist' drug cartels, according to the people who have read the document," it adds. "The rest of the memo’s reasoning is based on that premise."