Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said she was not satisfied with the classified briefing lawmakers received Tuesday on the Trump administration’s boat strikes, a reaction captured on video shared by MeidasTouch Network senior digital editor Acyn Torabi after she spoke with Migrant Insider editor Pablo Manríquez outside the Capitol.
“Oh, hell no. That was a joke,” she told Manríquez. “There was not a single piece of intelligence that was shared that even rises to the level of any other briefing that we’ve seen on Ukraine, China, anything,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that it “was not a serious intelligence briefing. This was a communication of opinion.”
The progressive lawmaker said if President Trump’s “administration wants to go to war… they need to go get it from Congress. And if Republicans want to defend this argument that cocaine is a weapon, they can go vote on that. But… this is just conjecture at this point.”
The administration’s policy of blowing up vessels used by alleged narcoterrorist drug traffickers has sparked controversy, prompting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to brief Senate and House members on Tuesday.
Afterward, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Fox News that the strikes “are legal” and “effective,” rely on “exquisitely good” intelligence, and include “checks and balances” to ensure that “innocent people who just happen to be in a boat are not hurt.”
.@PabloReports: Were you satisfied with the answers you’ve gotten so far in this classified briefing on Venezuela?
AOC: Oh, hell no. It was a joke. This was not a serious intelligence briefing. This was the communication of an opinion. pic.twitter.com/5rQpLMSv6F
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 16, 2025
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