Overview

• An unreleased Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion, described by sources to CNN, asserts the president may use lethal force against a broad, secret list of drug cartels deemed imminent threats.
• The Pentagon has relied on that opinion to justify at least four attacks on vessels in the southern Caribbean, with the most recent strike last week killing four people, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
• A recent Defense Department memo to lawmakers framed the maritime operations as part of an armed conflict and labeled cartel smugglers unlawful combatants.
• Military and international-law specialists inside the Pentagon have raised concerns about the legality of targeting suspected traffickers, but say OLC’s view controls executive-branch policy.
• The administration has also expanded CIA covert authorities, including reviewing an existing finding and operating surveillance drones capable of being armed over Mexico.