Trump's Venezuela operation expands in the dark

The U.S. military has killed at least 32 people in seven strikes off the coast of Venezuela without telling Congress or the American people who was killed, or on what evidence.The big picture: The U.S. is eight weeks into a military campaign in the Caribbean Sea with the twin aims of stopping drugs and, potentially, toppling Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro."Officially, our position is we're there to stop narco-terrorists. We're going to blow up their boats. And we're going to be patient about it. No one is in any rush," a senior administration official said.The scene: The Trump administration has deployed an unprecedented number of warships, spy planes, fighter jets, bombers, drones, and U.S. Marines off the coast of Venezuela.Last week, Trump confirmed he'd authorized CIA covert operations on Venezuelan soil. Overhead, the U.S. conducted a "Bomber Attack Demonstration" with B-52s."It's not just the CIA, it's all of our intelligence capabilities," said an insider involved in discussions about the operation." The U.S. knows where Maduro is, where he stays, where he goes. If we wanted to kill him with a missile, we could have done it by now."After the unexpected and unexplained departure of SouthCom Commander Adm. Alvin Holsey, the cadence of strikes at sea — and on land in Venezuela — could increase.The intrigue: Holsey was reportedly concerned about the legality of the strikes and was moving more cautiously than Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wanted.The Pentagon denied Holsey raised objections, but hasn't explained why he took the highly unusual step of stepping down just one year into his command.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell didn't respond to a question about Holsey's departure, but defended the legality of the broader campaign in a statement."Every action taken by the Department is deliberate, lawful, and precise. The male narco-terrorists killed in DoW operations were affiliated members of Transnational Criminal Organizations actively transporting illicit material along known trafficking routes in international waters," he said.Zoom in: A strike last week on what Trump described as a drug-laden submarine left two survivors, apparently the first attack to do so.The Justice Department and White House said authority over the men, classified as "detainees," rested with the Defense Department.Some in the administration considered sending the men to CECOT, a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, a source said, but it was deemed too problematic.Instead, it elected them to return to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia and avoid a messy process concerning their legal status.What they're saying: Beyond a member-level briefing earlier this month at which details were scant, the administration hasn't been any more transparent with Congress than with the public, a congressional aide told Axios.Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has led an unsuccessful push to force the administration to seek congressional authorization for the strikes, said the U.S. should "know someone's name at least" before killing them. "You have to accuse them of something. You have to present evidence. So all of these people have been blown up without us knowing their name, without any evidence of a crime," Paul told NBC's "Meet the Press."Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the lack of transparency around who was being targeted and why was unprecedented in his experience. "All they've said is, these people are part of a drug-running gang and we killed them," Smith told The New Republic.Both Smith and Paul said they hadn't seen any evidence that the boats that were blown up were even heading for the United States.The administration has no plans to offer up any additional information."We've complied with our constitutional duties to inform Congress. We will continue to do so," the official said.The other side: The family of a Trinidadian fisherman allegedly killed in one of the strikes denied he had anything to do with drug smuggling.Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of "murder" for a September strike he claimed killed a Colombian fisherman whose ship was adrift. Trump announced Sunday that he was cutting aid to Colombia.Paul said one-in-four ships the Coast Guard boarded looking for drugs didn't contain any, so a similar error rate could mean "25% of the people [killed] might be innocent."What to watch: Trump and his team have made clear this isn't just about drugs — they hope the naval flotilla, covert operations and other pressure points eventually make the situation untenable for Maduro, who has a $50 million bounty on his head, courtesy of Trump.Trump administration officials profess a near-unshakeable belief that Maduro either will be deposed or realize he needs to move into exile, even as experts contend he has coup-proofed his regime."We don't expect Maduro to stay. But we'll see," the administration official said.At least some insiders think Trump ultimately will launch some sort of land-based attack. "It's hard to see sending all these assets over there and then just retreating after blowing up some drug boats," one source said.

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