Judge Orders Trump Administration to Hand Over DOJ Memo Backing Lethal Boat Strikes

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration must turn over a Justice Department memo that provides the legal basis for the Pentagon's campaign of lethal strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York issued the order in a 66-page opinion, according to reporting by the New York Times. The ruling does not require immediate public release of the document. Instead, Engelmayer ordered the government to submit the memo within two weeks for his confidential review, after which he will decide whether to disclose it.

The memo at issue is a September 2025 opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. The Hill reported that the document runs more than 40 pages and addresses the legal standards the administration says justify the strikes.

The military campaign began in early September 2025 under a presidential directive authorizing force against foreign criminal groups the administration says traffic drugs into the United States. Since then, the campaign has carried out 70 known strikes, killing more than 230 people in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, according to The Hill.

The ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year seeking the memo and related records. The Trump administration argued the document was shielded by the deliberative process privilege, the attorney-client privilege, and presidential communications privilege.

Engelmayer rejected the first two of those three arguments, according to Voz.us, which reviewed the ruling. The judge found that presidential privilege is constitutionally grounded and distinct from the other claims, and he preserved that question for his in-camera review.

President Trump has defended the strikes as necessary to halt the flow of illicit drugs and dismantle what he calls narco-terrorist networks. Several Democratic lawmakers have disputed that rationale and accused Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of issuing unlawful orders, The Hill reported.

The administration has argued that Trump declared a formal armed conflict with a secret list of drug cartels without seeking congressional authorization. Legal specialists cited by Zetik News have called the killings unlawful on the grounds that suspected smugglers remain civilians under international law.

Some of the people killed in the strikes have been identified as fishermen with little or no connection to drug trafficking, according to Common Dreams, which reviewed accounts of the casualties.

Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that "no president can arbitrarily assassinate people from the sky based on their sole say-so."

The government has until Oct. 14 to submit the memo to the court. Engelmayer will then determine whether any portion of the document must be made public. No date has been set for that ruling.

Sources cited:
- The Hill (https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/6124784-judge-orders-doj-memo-release/)
- New York Times (via joemygod.com) (https://www.joemygod.com/2026/09/judge-doj-must-show-memo-justifying-boat-strikes/)
- Voz.us (https://voz.us/en/politics/261002/39597/federal-judge-orders-trump-to-hand-over-memo-explaining-the-legal-basis-for-his-attacks-on-drug-smuggling-vessels.html)
- Zetik News (https://www.zetik.com/news/article/story_id-p008-220193)
- Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-boat-strike-memo)
- Stop the Drug War / Drug War Daily Digest (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/drug-war-daily-digest-october-1-2026)