Judge rejects 2 of 3 DOJ grounds for keeping the boat-strike legal memo secret
The memo is not public yet; the third claim, presidential communications privilege, is still open.
In a 66-page opinion in the ACLU's records lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected the deliberative-process and attorney-client claims over the September 2025 memo authorizing lethal strikes on alleged drug boats.
What the judge ordered:
- DOJ must give more information on its third claim, presidential communications privilege, before any release.
- The judge set a 2-week deadline for his own first look at the memo (ABC News).
- DOJ must account for everyone who has seen the memo; Engelmayer said its storage in a Pentagon SCIF "raises more questions than answers."