Vessel struck by US military off Venezuela was heading back to shore, AP sources say

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military strike on what the Trump administration says was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela came after the vessel had turned around and was heading back to shore, raising fresh questions from members of Congress demanding more information about the provocative attack.

National security officials acknowledged during a closed briefing this week on Capitol Hill that the boat carrying 11 people, described by the Trump administration as Tren de Aragua gang members, was fired on multiple times by the U.S. military after it had changed course, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting. The New York Times first reported the development.

The emerging details come as the Trump administration has justified the military strike, but several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, have indicated dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part by using the military for law enforcement purposes.

Democrats contest legal reasoning for the strike

In a letter to the White House, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and two dozen other Democratic senators said the Trump administration has provided “no legitimate legal justification” for the strike.

Senators are demanding more information from the administration on the situation and use of U.S. military power.

“Our armed forces are not law enforcement agencies,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a floor speech this week.

“They are not empowered to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial,” Reed said.

The Trump administration has claimed self-defense as a legal justification for the strike, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguing the drug cartels “pose an immediate threat” to the nation. The U.S., which has designated Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization, has indicated more military strikes on drug targets could be coming as it seeks to “wage war” on cartels.

“The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “He is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans.”

She said that “it’s bizarre that anyone is running cover for evil Tren de Aragua narcoterrorists trying to poison our homeland as over 100,000 Americans die from overdoses every year.”

The Pentagon added that drug cartels will find “no safe harbor.”

“This strike sent a clear message: If you traffic drugs toward our shores, the United States military will use every tool at our disposal to stop you cold,“ chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

Reed said in his speech that the administration has offered “no proof that this vessel was engaged in an attack, or even that it was engaged in drug trafficking at the time.” He also said the administration has provided “no positive identification that the boat was Venezuelan, nor that its crew were members of Tren de Aragua or any other cartel.”

Officials signal the military is able to launch more strikes

It was unclear what the national security officials disclosed in their Hill briefing about the identities of those who were on the boat and the administration’s evidence that they were gang members. One of the people familiar with the situation said some of those on the boat were affiliated, but not members, of Tren de Aragua.

It also was not unclear if the national security officials provided information on the boat’s destination and if it was, in fact, carrying drugs. They did indicate the Pentagon has the ability to conduct additional military strikes in the region, the people familiar with the matter said.

Democratic senators have argued that Congress has not authorized the use of military force for this purpose.

“We assert that Congress made no declaration of war nor did it authorize the use of military force for future similar operations,” the Democratic senators wrote in the letter to the president.

Sen. Rand Raul, R-Ky., has said it was unlikely the boat was headed to U.S. shores, which would be a lengthy trip for such a vessel.

Paul — a libertarian-leaning Republican with a long history of challenging executive overreach, particularly in national security matters — has argued the U.S. can’t simply kill people suspected of wrongdoing without due process.

Venezuela accuses the US of murder

In Venezuela, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on Thursday accused the U.S. government of murder, characterized its version of events as “a tremendous lie” and questioned how the people on board the targeted vessel were linked to the gang.

“And how did they identify them as members of the Tren de Aragua? Did they have, I don’t know, a chip? Did they have a QR code and (the U.S. military) read it from above in the dark?” Cabello said. “They openly confessed to murdering 11 people.”

Cabello said Venezuelan authorities are investigating the strike but did not provide any details.

Cabello also rejected the U.S. government’s assertion that the targeted vessel was carrying 11 people and drugs, explaining that the video released by the White House last week appeared to show a type of small fishing boat known as a “peñero” in Venezuela.

“If you put 11 people on that peñero, there’s no room for anything else because when those peñeros go to sea, the fishermen have to carry gasoline for the return trip so as not to be left adrift,” Cabello said during a meeting of ruling-party members.

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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.