\n Trump administration officials told lawmakers on Wednesday that the US is not currently planning to launch strikes inside Venezuela and doesn\u2019t have a legal justification that would support attacks against any land targets right now, according to sources familiar with the briefing conducted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and an official from the White House\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel.\n <\/p>\n
\n Lawmakers were told during the classified session that the opinion produced by the Justice Department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel to justify strikes against suspected drug boats, first reported by CNN<\/a> last month, does not permit strikes inside Venezuela itself or any other territories, four sources said.\n <\/p>\n \n The \u201cexecute order\u201d that launched the US military campaign against suspected drug boats that began in September also does not extend to land targets, the briefers said, according to the sources.\n <\/p>\n \n The existing OLC opinion includes a list of 24 different cartels and criminal organizations based around Latin America it says the administration is authorized to target, according to one of the sources familiar with the document.\n <\/p>\n \n But the Trump administration is seeking a separate legal opinion from the Justice Department that would provide a justification for launching strikes against land targets without needing to ask Congress to authorize military force, though no decisions have been made yet to move forward with an attack inside the country, a US official said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhat is true one day may very well not be the next,\u201d said that US official when discussing the current state of the policy, pointing out that Trump has not decided how he will handle Venezuela.\n <\/p>\n \n The massive buildup of military assets in the Caribbean, which will soon include the Ford Carrier Strike Group, has raised questions about whether the US intends to strike inside Venezuela. But the briefers said the military assets are only moving there to support counternarcotic operations and conduct intelligence gathering, two of the sources said.\n <\/p>\n \n The administration has to date tried to avoid involving Congress in its military campaign around Latin America. A senior Justice Department official told Congress last week<\/a> that the US military can continue its lethal strikes on alleged drug traffickers without congressional approval and that the administration is not bound by a decades-old war powers law that would mandate working with lawmakers, CNN has reported.\n <\/p>\n