Kaine, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration Declassify & Release DOJ Legal Memo on Lethal Caribbean & Pacific Strikes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, joined 12 Democratic colleagues in writing to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting the declassification and public release of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) written opinion on the Trump Administration’s strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have killed at least 83 unknown individuals across 21 known strikes. The Trump Administration has refused to release legal justification for the strikes, even following bipartisan requests from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force. We therefore believe that the declassification and public release of this important document would enhance transparency in the use of deadly force by our nation’s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes,” the senators wrote.

The letter is led by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jack Reed (D-RI). In addition to Kaine, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

Kaine has been a leading voice in Congress calling out the Trump Administration’s failure to provide thorough answers regarding the justification for and legality of the strikes. In September, shortly after the first strike, Kaine led 24 of his Senate colleagues in pressing the Trump Administration for answers to a series of questions, including the legal justification for the strikes, who was targeted, why the targets were destroyed rather than interdicted as a means of gathering additional intelligence to assist counternarcotics efforts, whether assessments had been made about potential responses to the strikes such as violent action in the United States, and more. Kaine has not received a response. In October, the Senate voted on a War Powers Resolution led by Kaine and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) that would have blocked the continued use of the U.S. Armed Forces in the southern Caribbean Sea without an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) by Congress. In November, the Senate voted on a separate War Powers Resolution led by Kaine, Schiff, and U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have blocked the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless that action has been authorized by Congress. Neither resolution gained enough Republican support to pass. Kaine has also led his colleagues in demanding legal justification for the strikes.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Attorney General Bondi and Secretary Hegseth:

We are writing to request expeditious declassification and public release of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s written opinion, dated September 5, 2025, concerning the domestic and international legal basis for recent military strikes of certain vessels near South America and the Caribbean, with appropriate redactions necessary to protect military personnel and sensitive intelligence matters.

Significant and noteworthy precedent exists for the public release of OLC opinions related to overseas military action. After the United States carried out military strikes in Libya in 2011 and in Syria in 2018, the Department of Justice released the applicable OLC opinion justifying each operation.

Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force. We therefore believe that the declassification and public release of this important document would enhance transparency in the use of deadly force by our Nation’s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes.

Sincerely,

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