Trump administration says it’s given 7 classified briefings to Congress on US military boat strikes

By Samantha Waldenberg, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration said Monday it has provided seven separate classified briefings on US military strikes on alleged drug boats, even as lawmakers have said they have not received the information they want.

“The administration provided Congress seven separate classified briefings since early September, covering members or staff from House leadership, Senate leadership, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, and the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees,” a senior administration official said in a statement to CNN when asked whether the White House would be briefing Congress.

The White House confirmed to CNN that those briefings were specifically about the strikes.

CNN has reached out to Senate and House leadership and the committees named.

One Democratic Senate aide told CNN that the administration “appears to be counting the same briefing given multiple times to certain staff or members (including in small groups.) So seven briefings is highly misleading.”

A GOP House Armed Services Committee aide said, “I can’t speak to what they’ve done on the Senate side, but I can confirm that they’ve been very responsive, and our committee has gotten 3 separate classified briefings at this point – 2 for staff and 1 for members.”

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who was briefed on recent US military strikes, said on Sunday that the evidence he was presented doesn’t “back up” all of the administration’s claims about the boats.

The Arizona Democrat told ABC’s “This Week” that White House and Pentagon officials who briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee couldn’t give a “logical explanation” about the legality of the strikes.

“They were tying themselves in knots trying to explain this. We had a lot of questions for them, both Democrats and Republicans. It was not a good meeting. It did not go well,” he continued.

And the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last week that he hasn’t gotten the information he’s looking for from the administration.

“We’ve tried to ask questions. The Pentagon, Intel services have provided no answers to Congress to date,” the Washington state Democrat said.

Pressed on whether his committee has gotten any answers, Smith pointed to conversations he has had with GOP Chairman Mike Rogers.

“This is somewhat bipartisan. I’ve spoken to Chairman Mike Rogers, good friend, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, I work closely with. He hasn’t gotten the answers either,” Smith said, adding that he’d like to have a hearing.

“Now, we want to have a hearing, and we’re supposed to set one up,” he said, arguing that’s been “complicated” by Speaker Mike Johnson keeping the House out of session amid the shutdown.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Donald Trump, on Sunday defended the president’s ability to potentially authorize more extensive military operations as he ramps up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“That’s a real possibility,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” when asked about land strikes Trump has recently teased, adding that the president told him that Congress will be briefed on “future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia” when he returns from Asia.

“There will be a congressional briefing about a potential expanding from the sea to the land. I support that idea, but I think he has all the authority he needs,” the South Carolina Republican said.

CNN’s Annie Grayer and Ali Main contributed to this report.

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