‘It Is Completely Meaningless’: CNN Legal Analyst Torpedos Trump’s Designation of Fentanyl as ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’ 

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig had harsh words for President Donald Trump’s designation of fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction.”

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he was signing an executive order to classify the opioid as a WMD. Fentanyl is responsible for the vast majority of overdose deaths from illicit drugs in the U.S.

“There’s no doubt that America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States, in part because they want to kill Americans. If this were a war, it would be one of the worst wars,” the president said.

His remarks come amid his administration’s ongoing bombings of alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In particular, the U.S. has targeted vessels originating from Venezuela, even though the country does not produce fentanyl. Last week, the Trump administration also seized a Venezuelan oil tanker in its escalation of tensions with the South American nation, whose government it sought to overthrow during Trump’s first term.

Experts have doubted the legality of the strikes, which have killed at least 90 people. On Monday night, the administration announced the bombings of three more vessels in the Pacific. U.S. Southern Command said eight people were killed, but did not specify the origin of the vessels.

On Monday’s CNN NewsNight, guest host Sara Sidner asked Honig, “Does this executive order give the president the power to do more than he’s already doing that Congress has not actually approved boat strikes?”

Honig, a former federal prosecutor, replied:

No. It is completely meaningless. It’s symbolic. Federal law describes what a weapon of mass destruction is. Generally, it has to be an incendiary device, something that blows up, something that shoots, something that disseminates poison, that kind of thing.

If you commit a crime involving a weapon of mass destruction, it’s very serious. Penalties involved could be life in prison, could be death if someone dies. But the president saying drugs or fentanyl are now weapons of mass destruction has zero, zero legal impact. It’s up to judges. It’s up to the parties on a case-by-case basis. It’s an interesting argument. It doesn’t meet the definition. But it’s like if the president declared that a slingshot is a firearm, it doesn’t make it a firearm. For legal purposes.

Watch above via CNN.

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