--- title: Memo Justifying Drone Strikes on Americans to Be Released description: Drones have killed four U.S. citizens, including Anwar al-Awlaki, described as al-Qaeda's foreign-ops chief in the Arabian Peninsula canonical: https://time.com/107108/drone-strikes-americans-memo/ author: Per Liljas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-21T08:46:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:57:33.305Z article:section: Politics og:title: Memo Justifying Drone Strikes on Americans to Be Released og:description: Drones have killed four U.S. citizens, including Anwar al-Awlaki, described as al-Qaeda's foreign-ops chief in the Arabian Peninsula og:url: https://time.com/107108/drone-strikes-americans-memo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf90101da65771a7f/6986904dcd684831a4094c07/dronesprotester_rtr3nfrl_reuters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: A demonstrator holds up a sign protesting the Obama administration's use of drones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Memo Justifying Drone Strikes on Americans to Be Released twitter:description: Drones have killed four U.S. citizens, including Anwar al-Awlaki, described as al-Qaeda's foreign-ops chief in the Arabian Peninsula twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf90101da65771a7f/6986904dcd684831a4094c07/dronesprotester_rtr3nfrl_reuters.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Memo Justifying Drone Strikes on Americans to Be Released > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas May 21, 2014 8:46 AM UTC  A demonstrator holds up a sign protesting the Obama administration's use of drones, in New York, May 1, 2014. A demonstrator holds up a sign protesting the Obama administration's use of drones, in New York, May 1, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas May 21, 2014 8:46 AM UTC **Correction appended, May 22, 2014** The Justice Department will [release](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-to-reveal-justification-for-drone-strikes-against-american-citizens/2014/05/20/f607bb60-e066-11e3-8dcc-d6b7fede081a%5Fstory.html) a classified 2011 memo that provided legal justification for the killing of American terrorist suspects overseas, according to unnamed U.S. officials who spoke to the [Washington](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-to-reveal-justification-for-drone-strikes-against-american-citizens/2014/05/20/f607bb60-e066-11e3-8dcc-d6b7fede081a%5Fstory.html)[ _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-to-reveal-justification-for-drone-strikes-against-american-citizens/2014/05/20/f607bb60-e066-11e3-8dcc-d6b7fede081a%5Fstory.html) and the [Associated Press](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0520/Obama-will-release-drone-memo-before-Barron-s-confirmation-vote). The Obama Administration has been under pressure from both Republicans and Democrats to release the document. The Washington _Post_ reported that a group of Senators said on Tuesday it would fight President Obama’s nomination to a federal-appeals-court judgeship of David J. Barron, one of the memo’s authors, unless the document was released. Barron is a Harvard professor and former Justice Department official. Drones have killed four U.S. citizens, including Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki, described as the foreign-operations chief for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Awlaki’s teenage son, also American, was killed in a separate strike. (MORE: [Inside the Obama Administration’s Fight Over the Drone Memo](http://time.com/97613/obama-drone-memo-david-barron/)) Reporters for New York _Times_ and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the memo, which was rejected by a federal court. On April 21, an appeals court overturned that decision. The Administration had until June 5 to object but instead it has reportedly chosen to publicize the memo on the eve of the Senate vote on Barron’s nomination, the Associated Press says. Lawmakers have apparently been allowed to preview a copy of the memo. ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer welcomed the release of the document, the Washington _Post_ said. “The public surely has a right to know the breadth of the authority the government is claiming \[for a drone strike against Americans\] as well as the legal basis for it,” Jaffer said. **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated that Anwar al-Awlaki’s son was killed in the same strike as his father. 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