FBI Director Kash Patel told senators Tuesday that the United States would aggressively target trafficking networks moving cocaine from Venezuela, though he declined to explain the legal authority for recent U.S. military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is a close ally of Trump, asked Patel what justification the government was using for strikes President Donald Trump has ordered against alleged drug boats in international waters. Patel replied that the mission is led by the Department of Defense and that questions of legal authority should be addressed by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"I would defer the questions on legal authority to the attorney general and the department," said Patel.
He added that "a large portion of the cocaine that exits out of South America, its origination point is in Venezuela," describing how shipments move through trans-shipment points such as Haiti before reaching the United States. He also said the United States "will hunt down every single one of those narco-traffickers."
🚨 #Urgente | El director del @FBI, Kash Patel, ratificó ante el Senado que #NicolásMaduro encabeza una organización terrorista y aseguró que existen pruebas sólidas de que desde Venezuela salen drogas hacia #EEUU a través de Haití. No dejó lugar a dudas. pic.twitter.com/k4QK7V0aw9
— Maibort Petit (@maibortpetit) September 16, 2025
The exchange took place during Patel's first oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Democrats pressed him on everything from the investigation into Charlie Kirk's killing to the case against Jeffrey Epstein and the firing of senior FBI officials who have accused Patel of illegal political retribution.
The hearing came amid rising U.S.-Venezuela as President Trump on Monday announced a second attack against a Venezuelan vessel in the Caribbean for allegedly transporting illegal drugs. The news broke an hour after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said that the relationship between Caracas and Washington was "completely broken."
Trump has said the operations targeted "extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists," while Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro condemned them as illegal and warned that Caracas would defend its sovereignty. Legal experts have questioned whether such strikes, carried out in international waters, comply with maritime or human rights law.
Republicans in Congress have generally supported the administration's counter-narcotics operations, but Patel's refusal to discuss their legal basis underscores lingering uncertainty even among allies.
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