ACLU Sues Trump Admin. for Documents on Deadly Yemen Raid

YemenExtra

M.A.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit to force the U.S. government to divulge more information about the January raid on an al-Qaida compound in Yemen that resulted in the death of Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens and Yemeni civilians, as well as terrorists, ABC News has reported.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU said that the raid “raised deep concerns about the legal and factual basis, planning and execution of the operation,” adding that “after conducting an internal investigation, the government released little information about the circumstances surrounding the raid, the legal or factual justifications for it, and its consequences.”

In March, the ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the information with the CIA, Pentagon, State Department, Department of Justice and Department of Defense, but the lawsuit states that “despite the urgent public interest surrounding the requested documents, none of the defendants has released any record in response.”

The Huffington Post reported that President Donald Trump approved the operation over dinner and was not in the situation room during the raid, as is usually the case in such instances.

According to the Washington Examiner, Trump had already instituted by the time of the raid a new approval process by granting his military commanders the power to authorize operations in certain countries without his permission, which was not the case under President Barack Obama.

Trump’s alteration of the policy came after commanders complained that the previous rules for launching strikes in those countries were too cumbersome and slow-moving.

The Trump administration has called the raid a huge success, but NBC News reported in March that none of the intelligence obtained during the operation has so far proven actionable or vital.

This post originally ran on: Newsmax