Judge rejects Trump administration arguments for withholding boat strike justification memo

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled the Trump administration must turn over a Department of Justice (DOJ) memo that legally authorizes the Pentagon’s lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected two of the administration’s three arguments to keep the document secret in a 66-page opinion , requiring that the government submit the memo within two weeks for his confidential review.

Three legal organizations — the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights — filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last year to demand the release of this memo and other records related to these strikes.

The memo from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel is reportedly over 40 pages long, according to The New York Times , and addressed the legal standards justifying these strikes.

Over 230 people have been killed in at least 70 boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since the military campaign’s start on Sept. 2, 2025.

President Trump has defended the strikes as necessary measures to defend the U.S. from the flow of illicit drugs and dismantle “narco-terrorist” networks in the Western Hemisphere. Several Democratic lawmakers have disputed this argument and accused Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of giving illegal orders.

In his Wednesday opinion, Engelmayer rejected the administration’s arguments of deliberative process and attorney-client privileges, but he did not rule on whether the claim to presidential communications privilege justifies the decision to keep this document secret.

The judge noted that the presidential privilege, which protects the confidential decision-making of the commander-in-chief and his senior advisers, differs from the other two arguments in that it originates from the constitution, not common law.

Engelmayer’s ruling does not necessarily mean that the entire DOJ memo will be made public. The review process would allow the judge to determine how much of the document is protected.

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.