FBI Director Kash Patel told senators Tuesday that the United States would aggressively target trafficking networks moving cocaine from Venezuela, though he declined to explain the legal authority for recent U.S. military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is a close ally of Trump, asked Patel what justification the government was using for strikes President Donald Trump has ordered against alleged drug boats in international waters. Patel replied that the mission is led by the Department of Defense and that questions of legal authority should be addressed by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
