By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration held a Republicans-only briefing about U.S. strikes on alleged drug vessels near Venezuela, in what one senior Democrat on Thursday called a dangerous trend of increasing partisanship in national security.
"This is not how the system is supposed to work," Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, ranking member and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told a news conference about the briefing, which took place on Wednesday.
"When you politicize decision-making about putting our servicemembers in harm's way, you make them less safe," he said.
The administration laid out its legal justification for the strikes in the briefing, Warner said, questioning why such information should be classified.
Members of Congress, especially Democrats, have been demanding more information about the deadly strikes on boats off the South American coast, which have killed nearly 60 people in recent weeks amid rising tensions with Venezuela and Colombia.
Traditionally, presidential administrations from both parties have briefed members of the "Gang of Eight" - intelligence committee and Senate and House of Representatives leaders from both parties - on major national security actions. They also often hold classified sessions for every member of Congress.
Asked for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly did not specifically address the exclusion of Democrats from Wednesday's briefing, but accused Democrats of "running cover for foreign drug smugglers."
She said the administration has held six bipartisan briefings, with more scheduled, and that the Pentagon was making senior officials available to answer questions.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the department has conducted bipartisan briefings and would continue to do so. They also did not specifically address questions about Wednesday's briefing.
MILITARY BUILDUP IN THE CARIBBEAN
The Pentagon has provided few public details about the people targeted in the strikes, but has acknowledged some were from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.
The Trump administration insists those targeted were transporting drugs, without providing evidence or publicly explaining the legal justification for the decision to attack the boats rather than stop them and arrest those on board.
Trump also has ordered a major military buildup in the Caribbean.
Democratic and Republican senators have introduced resolutions to stop the strikes without lawmakers' approval, noting the U.S. Constitution's requirement that Congress, not the president, authorizes war. One resolution was narrowly defeated and the second should come up for a vote in the coming weeks.
PARTISAN NATIONAL SECURITY?
Warner said the Trump administration has been making national security more partisan for months, citing as an example its decision to call only Republicans in Congress when it struck Iran in June. In September, Warner's planned oversight visit to an intelligence agency was cancelled after criticism by a far-right activist.
Warner said he appreciated that Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said after the briefing that he felt Democrats should have been included, but said other Republicans should also have spoken up.
Aides to Rounds did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did a spokesperson for Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the Republican chairman of the intelligence panel.
Administration officials held a classified briefing on Thursday for the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee that involved both parties, a congressional aide said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Jonathan Landay and Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Nia Williams)
