The memo—drafted by the Office of Legal Counsel—notes that the government has designated some Latin American drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” which is itself unprecedented. The memo then takes a step further into La-La Land. It claims the White House’s characterization of cartels as waging war on the U.S.—which few legal experts accept as legitimate—itself provides the legal foundation for treating the drug cartels this way under Trump’s wartime powers as commander in chief.

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