Members of Congress growing concerned over lack of information from administration about Venezuela strikes, sources say

The Trump administration has declined to provide members of Congress unedited video of military strikes against suspected drug running boats in the Caribbean.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are growing concerned over a lack of information from the Trump administration about the intelligence and strategy underlying its strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean, six sources told NBC News.

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have left briefings about the strikes frustrated with the lack of information, said these people: five congressional sources and an additional source with knowledge of the matter. Some have asked for unedited video of the strikes, reflecting the kind of basic information they seek, but the administration has so far refused to provide it.

At a briefing a few weeks ago, Republican lawmakers were clearly upset with the answers they received, one of the congressional sources said.

“The Republicans were mad that the briefers were unable to answer questions about the legal basis for the operations,” the source said.

Some members of Congress — including Republicans who broadly support the attacks and the administration generally — are also concerned about the level of precision of the intelligence used to determine targets and the possibility that an American citizen could be killed in the operations, several of the sources said. A Defense Department spokesperson said members are being fully informed, and last week most GOP senators voted to defeat a measure that would have required congressional approval before more attacks were launched.