Ranking Member Raskin Demands DOJ Release Secret Memo Greenlighting Trump’s Lawless Strikes Killing Civilians

Washington, D.C. (October 9, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) reported secret legal memo purporting to grant President Trump unilateral authority to conduct military strikes on civilians—without a declaration of war, congressional authorization, Due Process, a trial, credible evidence, or any basis in law. 

“We demand that you provide the Committee with a copy of any such memorandum and a briefing to address DOJ’s apparent complicity in the President’s lawless orders to execute civilians, outside of any military conflict and with no oversight whatsoever,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in a letter to T. Elliot Gaiser, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. “[R]eporting raises the alarming prospect that DOJ has authorized the President to order targeted assassinations against anyone he deems an enemy combatant, including individuals located in the United States, without having to provide any evidence or justification to Congress or any federal judge.”

On October 6, news broke that DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), led by Assistant Attorney General Gaiser, provided the President with a memo that “appears to justify an open-ended war against a secret list of groups.” 

On Trump’s orders, the U.S. military has so far bombed at least four boats in international waters and killed at least 21 civilians, based on claims that these boats were involved in drug-trafficking operations—claims the Administration has not provided evidence to support.

There does not appear to be a legal basis for the strikes. The administration has not asked Congress for a declaration of war against any suspected drug cartel or narcotraffickers. It instead appears to have invoked novel and extraordinary emergency wartime powers under Article II. But such powers would require the President to show, at bare minimum, verifiable evidence that his targets are actual enemy combatants. President Trump has not done so. He instead is asking the American people to take his word for it, without presenting any evidence to Congress, to any court, or to the American people.

“We see no conceivable legal authority for these killings, based on secret lists and unverified allegations. We accordingly need to know on what basis the Justice Department authorized them. If you are confident in your analysis, releasing the memo is the only way for you to persuade your skeptics that these actions were lawful,” concluded Ranking Member Raskin. 

Ranking Member Raskin demanded DOJ provide any memoranda describing a purported legal basis for these military strikes, and all documents regarding OLC’s analysis of the applicability of any federal criminal murder statutes to these bombings. Ranking Member Raskin is also requesting a full briefing from the DOJ on the legal basis of these strikes.

Click here to read the letter.