J.D. Vance: our legal authority is deez nuts

Admittedly, “act and then try to find legal authority” describes more executive action even in constitutional democracies than one may like. But it’s pretty unusual to see it this explicitly with an action of this gravity:

The Trump administration has not offered any legal rationale. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday that administration officials “knew exactly who was in that boat” and “exactly what they were doing,” although he did not offer evidence.

[…]

But some officials at the Defense Department privately expressed concern on Wednesday about the administration’s shifting narratives, including where the vessel was headed. Mr. Rubio had said on Tuesday that it was going to Trinidad, while Mr. Trump said the United States. On Wednesday, Mr. Rubio changed his version, saying the drug-laden boat was bound for the United States.

The secretary said in Mexico City that drug cartels and traffickers, including those on the boat, “pose an immediate threat to the United States, period.”

Pentagon officials were still working Wednesday on what legal authority they would tell the public was used to back up the extraordinary strike in international waters.

Hmm, seems rather, ah, lawless. Hey, let’s ask the Yale Law School guy:

Q: On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under? JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing — literal terrorists — who are bringing deadly drugs into our country

[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) Sep 3, 2025 at 1:10 PM

Again, “the war on drugs represents a permanent state of exception” describes more executive action than is desirable, although generally not this baldly and more often to justify illegal searches than summary executions without even the pretense of exigent circumstances.

And while this assumption that narcotic smuggling is a get-out-of-law-free card is very, very wrong, the story presents this additional problem:

In the former official’s opinion, it was more likely that the vessel was carrying migrants on a human smuggling run. It would be impossible to know for sure, however, given that any evidence of drug smuggling was destroyed in the attack.

This is the most important reason why the 5th and 14th Amendments require due process in the first place!

In another twist, the Venezuelan government is claiming that the video is a deepfake being used by Rubio to goad Trump into war. Which group of compulsively dishonest authoritarians you want to believe is up to you.