Exclusive: Classified Justice Department opinion authorizes strikes on secret list of cartels, sources say

Source: CNN

POLITICS * 5 MIN READ
Exclusive: Classified Justice Department opinion authorizes strikes on secret list of cartels, sources say

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen
UPDATED 1 HR 28 MIN AGO
UPDATED OCT 6, 2025, 8:25 PM ET
PUBLISHED OCT 6, 2025, 5:20 PM ET


In this screengrab taken from a video posted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on October 3, 2025, a boat is visible just before it is hit by a military strike, off the coast of Venezuela. In his post, Hegseth said the boat was trafficking narcotics and that four men onboard were killed. Pete Hegseth/X

The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The opinion, which was produced by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and has not been previously reported, argues that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels because they pose an imminent threat to Americans. The list of cartels goes beyond those the administration has publicly designated as terrorist organizations, the people familiar with the opinion said.

The opinion is significant, legal experts said, because it appears to justify an open-ended war against a secret list of groups, giving the president power to designate drug traffickers as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review. Historically, those involved in drug trafficking were considered criminals with due process rights, with the Coast Guard interdicting drug-trafficking vessels and arresting smugglers.

"If the OLC opinion authorizing strikes on cartels is as broad as it seems, it would mean DOJ has interpreted the president to have such extraordinary powers that he alone can decide to prosecute a war far broader than what Congress authorized after the attacks on 9/11," said Sarah Harrison, a former associate general counsel at the Defense Department who now works as a senior analyst at the Crisis Group. ... "By this logic, any small, medium or big group that is trafficking drugs into the US -- the administration could claim it amounts to an attack against the United States and respond with lethal force," said Harrison, who had the outlines of the legal opinion described to her by CNN.

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Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/politics/classified-justice-department-memo-cartel-strikes

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Boalt Hall right now:

— Repeated, Gratuitous, and Harmful Hat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2025-10-07T01:11:21.359Z

******
Repeated, Gratuitous, and Harmful Hat
‪@kenwhite.bsky.social‬

Boalt Hall right now:


‪Lawrence Hurley‬
‪@lawrencehurley.bsky.social‬
· 2h
Head of OLC is a former Alito clerk

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/politics/classified-justice-department-memo-cartel-strikes

Exclusive: Classified Justice Department opinion authorizes strikes on secret list of cartels, sources say | CNN Politics
The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple peop...
www.cnn.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:11 PM
******

Head of OLC is a former Alito clerk
www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/p...

— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T23:34:43.212Z

******
Lawrence Hurley
‪@lawrencehurley.bsky.social‬

Head of OLC is a former Alito clerk

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/politics/classified-justice-department-memo-cartel-strikes

Exclusive: Classified Justice Department opinion authorizes strikes on secret list of cartels, sources say | CNN Politics
The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple peop...
www.cnn.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:34 PM
*****+