{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-and-reed-lead-senators-in-demanding-declassification_public-release-of-legal-memo-on-lethal-caribbean--east-pacific-airstrikes", "Blumenthal & Reed Lead Senators in Demanding Declassification & Public Release of Legal Memo on Lethal Caribbean & East Pacific Airstrikes", "2025-11-24", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", "blumenthal", "https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press", "scraper", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led the Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee in writing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting the declassification and public release of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) written opinion on the Trump Administration\u2019s lethal airstrikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.\n\n\u201cFew 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\u2019s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes,\u201d the Senators wrote.\n\nIn addition to Blumenthal and Reed, today\u2019s letter was signed by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), 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).\n\nMembers of the Senate Committee on Armed Services were finally allowed to review the Trump Administration\u2019s classified OLC opinion in a closed setting last week. To date, the Trump Administration has carried out 21 unauthorized military strikes \u2013 primarily off the coast of Venezuela \u2013 that have killed 83 people.\n\nThe full text of the Senators\u2019 letter is available here and copied below.\n\nDear Attorney General Bondi and Secretary Hegseth:\n\nWe are writing to request expeditious declassification and public release of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel\u2019s 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.\n\nSignificant 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.\n\nFew 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\u2019s military and is necessary to ensure Congress and the American people are fully informed of the legal justification supporting these strikes.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-and-reed-lead-senators-in-demanding-declassification_public-release-of-legal-memo-on-lethal-caribbean--east-pacific-airstrikes"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7985099218785763, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}