US Boat Strikes: Judge Gives Trump 14 Days to Show Him Secret Legal Memo
UNITED STATES · CARIBBEAN
Key Facts
- —The ruling On 30 September 2026 Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York rejected two of the three legal privileges the government claimed to keep the memo secret.
- —The deadline By 14 October 2026 the government must give the judge the memo for private review and name everyone who has read it.
- —The memo A legal opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, issued on 5 September 2025, three days after the first strike.
- —The toll More than 70 strikes and about 230 deaths in the Caribbean and the Pacific since September 2025, El Nacional reported on 30 September.
- —Still open The judge has not yet decided whether the public will see the memo.
A judge ruled that the legal opinion behind the US boat strikes now binds the Pentagon, and asked to read it himself.
A US federal judge has given the Trump administration 14 days to hand over the legal memo behind its deadly boat strikes. Judge Paul Engelmayer issued the order in New York on 30 September 2026 over strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
What the judge ordered
Engelmayer sits on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, a federal trial court in Manhattan. His 66-page order answers a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which gives the public a right to government records.
The plaintiffs are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), its foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights. They asked the Justice Department and the Department of Defense for a single document.
It is a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), the Justice Department unit that advises the president on the law. The two departments refused to release any part of it.
The judge now wants to read the memo himself, in what lawyers call in camera review, meaning in private. He also wants a sworn list of every person who has seen it since September 2025, with dates and reasons.
Why the government’s secrecy claim mostly failed
The government gave three grounds for secrecy: classified content, a national security law and legal privilege. On 30 September the judge ruled only on privilege, the argument the government said could end the case alone.
He rejected two of the three privileges claimed: protection for internal debate and protection for advice from a lawyer to a client. The reason is that the Pentagon now treats the memo as its rulebook.
“The Memo binds DOD and defines the parameters of its authority to undertake boat strikes,” Engelmayer wrote. Under US case law, such “working law” cannot be kept secret as mere advice.
Officials had repeatedly cited the memo in public as the legal basis for the strikes. The agencies “cannot claim surprise” at that consequence, the judge wrote.
The secret memo and the campaign behind it
The Office of Legal Counsel issued the memo on 5 September 2025, three days after the first strike, the court record shows. Members of Congress who read it described it as 48 to 49 pages long.
The strikes, which the Pentagon calls Operation Southern Spear, began on 2 September 2025. They followed a July 2025 directive from President Donald Trump to use military force against foreign criminal groups designated as terrorist organisations.
An order from Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, first covered international waters off the coast of Venezuela. Around October 2025 the military extended it to the eastern Pacific, according to the court record.
Since then the United States has carried out more than 70 strikes, with about 230 deaths, El Nacional, a Venezuelan newspaper, reported. The ACLU puts the death toll at 234.
The government’s position
The administration says the strikes are lawful and target drug traffickers it has designated as terrorists. A spokesperson for US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the military command for Latin America, defended them in September 2026.
“Each operation is planned and executed within the full bounds of our legal framework,” spokesperson Steven McLoud said. He said every target met the criteria set by the Office of Legal Counsel, the court record shows.
In July 2026 Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told senators the head of the legal office had briefed them. He called the idea that it was not transparent about its legal basis “absolutely not true”.
The government still holds one card: a third privilege that protects advice to the president. The judge will rule on it once he knows how widely the memo was shared.
What the critics say
Rights groups and several members of Congress have questioned whether the strikes are legal. A United Nations expert said in September that the attacks may amount to crimes against humanity.
“The public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of civilians,” said ACLU lawyer Jeffrey Stein. He called the order a step against “secret law”.
What it means for the region
For people in Venezuela and across the Caribbean, the strikes happen in waters close to their own coasts. A public memo would show the criteria the United States uses to decide which boats are lawful targets.
Parts of the memo will likely stay hidden because they contain classified facts. But the judge wrote it is “all but certain” that its legal analysis falls outside those secrecy rules.
The lawsuit is about access to the legal reasoning, not about whether the strikes are lawful. A release would let lawyers in the region and in the United States test that reasoning in public.
The judge has not said when he will rule on public release. The government’s next filing is due on 14 October.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the judge in the boat strikes case?
Paul A. Engelmayer is a judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. He issued the order on 30 September 2026 in a freedom-of-information lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Did the judge order the memo to be made public?
Not yet. He ordered the government to let him read it in private by 14 October 2026. It must also name everyone who has seen it. He will then decide whether the public can see it.
How many people have died in the US boat strikes?
El Nacional reported more than 70 strikes and about 230 deaths since September 2025. The ACLU puts the death toll at 234 as of 30 September 2026.
Sources: El Nacional · US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Opinion and Order, 25 Civ. 10189 (PAE) · American Civil Liberties Union (plaintiff)
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