Murder on the high seas
The New York City Bar Association issued a statement on Monday accusing Donald Trump of murder. His ordering of recent military strikes on four vessels in international waters in the Caribbean for allegedly carrying drugs to the U.S. amounts to “illegal summary executions – murders.”
From the statement’s introduction:
Although the President has, without proof, characterized the victims as “terrorists” and drug traffickers, that claim, even if true, provides no justification for these unlawful executions. Even if, as recently reported, the President has communicated to Congress that he has “determined” that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, absent congressional authorization of these military actions, they remain unlawful.
Asked by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) in yesterday’s Senate oversight hearing to provide the legal justification for the attacks on Venezuelan vessels, Attorney General Pam Bondi refused.
“I’m not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have given or issued at the direction of the president on this matter,” Bondi told Coons.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in statements alleged that the boats carried illegal drugs bound for the U.S. The New York Times last week reported that in a confidential notice to Congress, Trump branded Venezuelan drug cartels terrorist organizations. Without proper congressional authorization, he then declared the U.S. is engaged in “armed conflict” against them as “unlawful combatants,” employing language associated with the law of armed conflict.
Except, the Bar statement argues (Law & Crime):
The association notes there is ample statutory authority under U.S. law to stop and detain alleged drug traffickers, but says the use of force in such a manner is not compatible with the U.S. Constitution.
“Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution explicitly reserves to Congress the power to declare war, which over time has meant that Congress must authorize the use of military force,” the statement goes on. “The President serves as Commander-in-Chief, which authorizes him to command the use of force when authorized by Congress and in cases of actual self-defense. Because there has been no such authorization to use force against Venezuela or against ships operating in the area (or any plausible threats justifying self-defense), the President’s military actions against the Venezuelan vessels and their crews cannot be justified as an exercise of the President’s power to use force authorized by Congress.”
Without a War Powers Resolution from Congress, the attorney group states, each act by Trump “appears to be an unlawful summary execution prohibited by both U.S. and international law.”
The attacks “appear to violate our nation’s obligations under both the United Nations and OAS Charters,” the attorneys assert:
Attacking and intentionally killing the crews of private vessels because they are allegedly trafficking narcotics is an arbitrary deprivation of life and a clear violation of this universally accepted foundation of international law.
The president’s actions “are unlawful and must not be repeated,” the statement concludes. Congress must act to bring U.S. “into compliance with the Constitution and international law, reduce the risk of hostilities with neighboring countries and assure that similar abuses of Presidential power do not expand to American shores.”
Law & Crime notes a Bluesky post by Jameel Jaffer, the director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. The statement is “a big deal.”
The New York City Bar Association has spoken out, bless them. Trump 2.0 , however, is an administration led by a convicted felon and already veering into dictatorship. Trump is bent on invoking the Insurrection Act to declare martial law. He has engaged in multiple violations of the Constitution.
“The White House is flouting a constitutional principle that every American kid learns at school: that Congress, not the president, has the power of the purse,” opines CNN’s Stephen Collinson.
Trump makes a mockery of the separation of powers and the authorities of the Legislative Branch. His attorney general yesterday heaped scorn on and launched prepared personal attacks on senators not of the president’s party. Oversight? This president will have none of it.
Trump has directed his Department of Justice to file frivolous prosecutions of his enemies, defied court orders, and filed meritless punitive personal lawsuits against perceived enemies. His administration has ignored a unanimous Supreme Court decision from last year prohibiting the use of government leverage to curb speech his administration dislikes. He makes a mockery of the Judicial Branch.
Trump’s recent actions violate Amendments 1, 4, 5, 10, and 14 with nary a whimper from the Republican-controlled Congress.
We owe the New York City Bar Association our thanks for speaking out. For all the good it will do.
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