Senators criticize Trump administration after Democrats were left out of a drug boat strike briefing

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both parties criticized the Trump administration after Democrats were not invited to a briefing Wednesday on U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats.

Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told reporters at a news conference in the Capitol on Thursday that the partisan briefing was a "new low" for the administration.

"That is not how the system is supposed to work," he said.

The Trump administration has launched at least 14 strikes on vessels that it claims were involved with drug trafficking since early September. Calls for transparency into the strikes from members of Congress, including allies of Trump, have grown in recent weeks.

• Add to Google

Hegseth says U.S. carried out another strike on an alleged drug boat

05:55

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Democrats have “been denied essential information about these airstrikes. From everything we have been told, there are very severe questions about the legality of these strikes.”

Several Republican senators told NBC News that Democrats should have been included in the meeting.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said that it was "an unfortunate situation" that Democrats were not briefed but that he believed they would be included in future briefings.

"I wish it wouldn’t have happened this way," he said. "It did, but I’ve talked to a number of my colleagues already and told them that we still agree that this should be delivered on a bipartisan basis."

Rounds also said that based on the briefing, he believes the strikes were legal.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., also said Democrats should have been briefed.

"I don’t think any administration should leave out any party from a briefing that level of importance," he said, adding, "I think all of that should be available to people who oversee them."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close ally of Trump’s, said that it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for Democrats not to be briefed and that “the goal is to brief everybody, not just Republicans.”

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Couldn’t let all of them die’: Hero Indian pilot attacked midair speaks for first time

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow Trump’s homelessness crackdown became a sweeping retreat from disability rights

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJudge guts noncitizen voting law used in Trump administration’s election push

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump to campaign in at least 17 states ahead of the midterms

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe prosecutor at the center of the Cornell maelstrom

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

Warner said he was incensed to learn that the administration shared its legal justification for the strikes during the briefing, since Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “personally promised” him that information would be shared with the bipartisan Gang of 8, which still has not happened yet.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Couldn’t let all of them die’: Hero Indian pilot attacked midair speaks for first time

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow Trump’s homelessness crackdown became a sweeping retreat from disability rights

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJudge guts noncitizen voting law used in Trump administration’s election push

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump to campaign in at least 17 states ahead of the midterms

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe prosecutor at the center of the Cornell maelstrom

FOR SUBSCRIBERSIt’s rarely been harder for people to find new jobs

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

Asked by NBC News whether he got an explanation for why Democrats were excluded, Warner said: “We got a ham-handed ‘Oh, maybe you’re right.’ ... I say bulls---.”

The White House accused Democrats of "pushing bogus claims about the administration’s efforts to kill narcoterrorists to distract from their decision to shut the government down and force federal employees and military servicemembers to work without pay."

"The Department of War has held nine bipartisan briefings on narcoterrorist strikes, with additional bipartisan briefings scheduled, and individually works through requests from the Hill," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. "It’s pathetic that these Democrats care more about running cover for foreign drug smugglers and illegal immigrants seeking taxpayer-funded health care than paying federal workers and protecting American citizens from deadly narcotics.”

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, also said he disagrees with the premise that Democrats were left out because Democrats are “free to do whatever they want to do. They can ask for a briefing, just like we got.”

“Those of us that are on the Intelligence Committee, Republicans or Democrats, can get briefings anytime they want on these,” Risch said. “It’s not unusual for us to ask for briefings individually or as a group or, for that matter, as Republicans. Democrats do the same.”

Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee held a bipartisan classified briefing on the strikes Thursday. But Democratic committee member Jason Crow, of Colorado, told NBC News that Pentagon lawyers were pulled away from the briefing at the last minute, so members did not get any legal justifications for the strikes, leaving him “unsatisfied.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks, of New York, top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that Thursday's briefing was “incredible for how little information was shared, how little time the briefers stayed to answer questions, and how completely absent any credible legal rationale was for the administration’s unauthorized, ongoing expansion of these strikes.”