Top Democrats support U.S. intelligence on Trump administration’s Venezuela strikes

Top Democrats emerged from a classified briefing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday expressing confidence in the intelligence behind recent U.S. strikes on suspected narco-trafficking vessels near Venezuela. But they also blamed the Biden administration for what they called its failure to confront Nicolás Maduro after Venezuela’s disputed 2024 elections.

The Office of Legal Counsel presented to lawmakers its written justification for a series of missile strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that U.S. authorities say killed 63 suspected traffickers. Lawmakers from both parties said the briefing reassured them that the targets were legitimate, although some expressed concern about the broader strategy.

“The last comment I will make is simply that nothing in the legal opinion mentions Venezuela,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

“I think they have visibility into the drug trade,” Warner added, saying he trusted U.S. intelligence assessments but would prefer to see traffickers “interdicted and brought to justice rather than blown up.”

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“The last comment I will make is that nothing in the legal opinion mentions Venezuela,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and top Pentagon lawyers led the closed-door briefing for congressional leaders and the chairmen and ranking members of the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.

Lawmakers have complained for days about being left in the dark as the Pentagon launched multiple maritime strikes without first consulting Congress. Officials declined to discuss the expected scope or duration of the campaign and provided few details about those killed or evidence linking the targets to drug trafficking.

“A lot of mistakes could be made,” said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. “But, again, they’re putting the eyes and ears of our intelligence community on these boats. I’m not too worried about there being a strike on a fishing boat or a pleasure boat, but it’s always possible.”

Himes said the administration described “the process by which these boats are selected” but did not share photographs or the identities of those killed.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also supported the intelligence behind the operation.

“We have valuable information about these strikes against these ships,” Johnson said. “We know the contents of the boats. We know the personnel almost perfectly.”

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Rep. Jim Himes speaks to members of the press after a briefing at the U.S. Capitol on February 14. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Officials told lawmakers there were no plans to expand the maritime campaign to land operations or directly target Maduro.

“There are no apparent plans to expand this beyond what they claim to do,” Himes said.

Reports that the administration was considering possible strikes against Mexico did not appear to be in the briefing, which lawmakers said focused almost exclusively on cocaine — some of which is trafficked through Venezuela — rather than fentanyl, Mexico’s top export.

“It’s as described: stopping the flow of drugs and, to be clear, stopping the flow of cocaine,” Himes said.

Yet several Democrats said the Biden administration missed a critical moment last year to rally its Latin American allies after Venezuela’s disputed election, when independent observers and several Western governments recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the rightful winner.

A series of strikes linked to drug trafficking in recent months have left 63 people dead. (X.com/SecWar)

“I frankly think the Biden administration has not gone far enough after the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly to get rid of Maduro,” Warner said. “We missed a huge opportunity when Venezuelans – probably in numbers in the mid-1960s – spoke out against Maduro, even under threat of violence. The fact that we did not rally the region at that time was, in retrospect, a huge mistake.”

After the July 2024 vote, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on top Maduro officials but did not reimpose broad restrictions on Venezuela’s oil sector, a move that officials said could have driven up global fuel prices and worsened migration pressures.

In contrast, the Trump administration has taken a harder line. He reimposed draconian sanctions on Maduro during Trump’s first term and has since increased pressure on the South American strongman during his second. The Justice Department has offered a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, and officials have not ruled out that the current strikes could be aimed at pressuring him to step down.

When asked this weekend in a CBS interview if Maduro’s days were numbered, Trump replied: “I would say yes. I think so.”

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Pressed on whether the United States would go to war with Venezuela, he added: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.”