White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet on Wednesday with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress behind closed doors to brief them on U.S. military operations against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, near Venezuela, and in the Pacific, near Colombia.

Military maneuvers near the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia and the extrajudicial killings of unarmed suspects, in which at least 64 have died in 15 boat sinkings, have prompted bipartisan calls from lawmakers for more information about the White House's decision-making.

An all-Republican briefing with a select group of senators drew outrage from Democrats last week.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, called the decision to hold the briefing with only Republicans “indefensible and dangerous.”

Republicans also rejected it, arguing that such briefings should be bipartisan.

And a bipartisan briefing the following day before the House Armed Services Committee left many Democrats unsatisfied with the administration's legal explanations for its actions.

Leavitt revealed Tuesday that Rubio will meet with the so-called Gang of 12, which includes the Republican majority and Democratic minority leaders of both chambers, as well as members of the intelligence committees.

“The Administration has briefed Congress on these matters on eight separate occasions, and Democrats have participated in those meetings. In fact, I know that Secretary Rubio will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow to brief the Gang of 12, which also includes Democrats,” Leavitt said.

The spokeswoman stressed that Trump “has made it very clear that if senators want to know about the Administration’s operations against drug traffickers,“They can do it.”

“We are happy to talk to them about it and will continue to do so, but we have been extremely transparent,” Leavitt insisted.

The extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers have heightened tensions between the United States, Venezuela, and Colombia, while rumors of a possible US attack on Venezuelan territory increase.

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