A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. may be compelled to release the legal justification for boat strikes conducted against drug traffickers in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer stated that the administration has not yet provided sufficient information to assert claims of national security, deliberative process, or attorney-client privilege that would prevent the public release of a Justice Department memo.
The memo, written in September 2025 by the Office of Legal Counsel, reportedly outlines the legal rationale for the controversial strikes. The Trump administration had argued that its release would compromise national security, but Judge Engelmayer rejected these claims in a 66-page filing. He has ordered the agencies to provide further information within two weeks to help him determine whether the justification can be released to the public through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Judge Engelmayer also requires the Justice Department to provide a full accounting of who has accessed the memo since its creation. He noted that the Defense Department general counsel's attestation that the memo is held in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) raises further questions. The judge indicated that a military commander's need to know the legal parameters of their authority does not automatically classify them as presidential advisers.
The ACLU, which is among the groups suing for the memo's release, hailed the judge's order as a significant step toward ensuring transparency in government actions. Attorney Jeffrey Stein stated that the public has a right to know how the government justifies such lethal actions. The Justice Department has not yet responded to requests for comment on the ruling.