‘Defend The Law And End Trump’s Militarism’

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders called on Congress to prevent Trump from striking Venezuela as reports claim the administration has already decided to attack.

“Trump is illegally threatening war with Venezuela — after killing more than 50 people in unauthorized strikes at sea. The Constitution is clear: Only Congress can declare war. Congress must defend the law and end Trump’s militarism,” Sanders said in a social media publication.

Earlier on Friday, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton also slammed the Trump administration over what he described as lack of legal justification to conduct strikes off the coast of Venezuela and the Eastern Pacific.

Speaking on CNBC, Moulton said he found the Trump administration’s argument to conduct the strikes “so flimsy that it makes the case for the Iraq War look like a slam dunk.”

“It was that bad. And by the way, at the last minute they pulled the lawyers from the briefings. So all the questions that both Democrats and Republicans had about exactly what you’re getting to. what is the legal justification for this, they weren’t there to explain it,” Moulton added.

He then noted that, at the end of the briefing, he “went to speak to the admiral, who was by far the most impressive person there, and I said ‘I hope you recognize the constitutional peril that you are in, and the peril you’re putting our troops in.'” “I got the impression from that admiral that it wasn’t lost on him,” he concluded.

Different reports have illustrated internal concerns about the military’s actions. Earlier this week, Reuters noted that troops are being required to sign non-disclosure agreements before taking part in the military campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

The outlet noted that the step is highly unusual, considering the troops are already required to not disclose security secrets. Officials told the outlet that they didn’t know how many people had been required to sign the document. They did not describe the nature of the document.

The report comes shortly after the resignation of Southern Command (Southcom) head Alvin Holsey, who stepped down from his post in mid-October after reportedly raising concerns about the strikes in the region to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Another report claims that the Trump administration has already made the decision to strike military facilities inside Venezuela and attacks could take place at any time now.