Washington — A bipartisan group of former federal ethics officials is asking for an internal Justice Department investigation into the legal opinion justifying U.S. military strikes on suspected drug-running boats in the waters off South America.

The ex-officials sent a request Tuesday to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility calling for an "immediate investigation into whether members of the [Justice Department's] Office of Legal Counsel violated their professional legal responsibilities in preparing legal guidance that justified the unilateral use of lethal force against civilian foreign nationals, including alleged drug smugglers."

The group includes Norm Eisen, Richard Painter and Virginia Canter, who served as ethics counsels for Presidents George W. Bu

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