DoJ deemed it unnecessary' to conclude whether seizing Maduro violated law, memo reveals

"In a 22-page memo, T Elliot Gaiser, the top lawyer at the office of legal counsel (OLC) briefly discussed international law and the UN charter, which says a nation cannot use force inside another country without its consent, a self-defense rationale or the permission from the UN security council. But Gaiser stopped short of deciding whether the operation violated international law, arguing it did not matter as long as Donald Trump had the authority under domestic law to authorize the operation."

"To be clear, we have not reached a definitive conclusion about how international law would apply to Absolute Resolve, Gaiser wrote, using the codename for the operation. We do not reach the question because it is unnecessary to address the issue. In doing so, Gaiser effectively doubled down on the determinations of another controversial OLC memo from 1989 that decided a president could blow through the UN charter to direct the FBI to carry out forcible abductions in foreign territories."

"That memo argued a president had inherent authority under the US constitution to override an international treaty like the UN charter, and was used by George HW Bush to legally justify the capture and arrest of Panama's strongman, Manuel Noriega, on drug-trafficking charges. The memo was signed by William Barr, then the assistant attorney general, who later served as attorney general in Trump's first term and is known for pushing an expansive view of executive power."

The Office of Legal Counsel approved use of U.S. military forces to seize Venezuela's president while declining to determine whether the operation would violate international law. The memo cites the UN Charter's prohibitions on using force in another country without consent, self-defense, or Security Council authorization but deems resolution unnecessary because presidential authority under domestic law suffices. The document references a controversial 1989 OLC opinion that allowed presidential override of treaty obligations to justify forcible abductions, noting that William Barr signed that memo. The legal reasoning raises questions about presidential power to begin armed conflicts without congressional approval.

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