Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Maduro Arrested-Why Trump Ordered this Historic Attack & the Detailed Legal Basis for his Authority to Do So

Transcript

Maduro Arrested-Why Trump Ordered this Historic Attack & the Detailed Legal Basis for his Authority to Do So · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome in his verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: with you and Senator this is a show we get
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: to start. That was something that we thought could happen,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: but the way it happened was truly incredible. Maduro is
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: now in New York City, not far from where you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: are in Washington, DC right now. I promise you he
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: didn't think that was gonna happen. And no loss of
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: American life in going in and getting him. God bless
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: our men and women in uniform. They are just incredible
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: heroes right now.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Well, listen, we are living in extraordinary times, and what
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: transpired this weekend was extraordinary. It was an incredible act
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: of military might, of military precision. It was an incredible
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: intelligence victory. The US military went in on Saturday into Venezuela,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: captured Nicholas Maduro, captured his wife, removed them from Venezuela,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: brought them to New York for criminal prosecution, as you noted,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: without the loss of even a single American life. That
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: is a big, big deal. It is incredibly complicated to
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: go into a Venezuelan military base. You know, there'd been
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: a lot of talk about about all of the anti aircraft,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: air defenses that Venezuela had much many of them from Russia.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: At the end of the day, the operation was flawless,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: and I will give an enormous amount of credit to
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: President Trump. President Trump acted decisively in ordering this attack.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: There was real risk it could have gone badly, and
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: if it had gone badly, that would not have obviously
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: would not have been good. There could have been real
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: loss of life that didn't happen. There were a thousand
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: ways this could have gone wrong, but it was flawlessly executed.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: And right now, the people of Venezuela are better off,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the people of America are better off, and the world
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: is better off. And so what we're going to do
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: on this podcast. There are podcasts that you and I
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: do that I think are particularly important, and I would
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: put this one in that category. We're going to analyze
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: why Venezuela matters so much, why President Trump ordered the
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: military order the FBI to go arrest Maduro, why that matters,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: and and why both Venezuela and America are better off
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: because of it. And then we're also going to break
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: down not just the geopolitical implications of it, but the
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: legal implications. You're hearing a lot of folks on TV,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: every Democrat and most of the media are beating their
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: chest saying this is illegal.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: There's no basis.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Trump is the dictator here, and and so we're gonna
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: break down in some real detail the legal basis. I
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: believe the President had the authority to order this arrest.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I think it was carried out. Pursue it to the constitution,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: pursue it to US law. But I'm gonna break down
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: and explain why, and then we're gonna talk also some
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: about what next, what happens in Venezuela next. And I
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: gotta say question three, I think is the most complicated question.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: It is a question that is rife with risk, but
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: but also has a real potential not just to transform Venezuela,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: but to transform the entire Western hemisphere. And so this
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: is a moment to be celebrating a great military success,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: to be optimistic for the future, but also to be
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: cautious because there are a lot of ways that this
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: could go sideways. And so I think it matters a
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: great deal how the administration proceeds in the next three years.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see. And
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: we're going to break all that down for you.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: I want to take a moment, though, and talk to
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: you about our friends at Compassion International. Right now, somewhere
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: in the world, a kid you've never met is writing
• 3:28
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• 3:33
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• 3:37
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• 3:39
  Speaker 1: a picture. Maybe they've asked you about your family, your
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: favorite color, what makes you laugh. They're wondering who you are,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: this person who cares enough to be part of their story,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: and you You're not just sending money. You're writing back.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: You're showing up month after month, letter after letter. You're
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: celebrating their victyes, encouraging them through challenges, and reminding them
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: that they truly matter. Now, this isn't a transaction, It's
• 4:08
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• 4:13
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• 4:17
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• 4:22
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• 4:27
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• 4:31
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• 4:37
  Speaker 1: com all right, So, Senator I want to start with
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: just laying the groundwork here. There has been a lot
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: of media attention acting like this was somehow just the
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: present going warp speed and just deciding on a whim.
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: To do this.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: This was a marathon. It was laid out with indictments.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: The idea that this was some sort of of quick
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: knee jerk reaction by the president of the United States
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of America is total insanity. There was incredible military planning
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: that went into this, including building the same structure that
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: they knew they were gonna have to go into. There
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: was CIA on the ground, we were told, and lots
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: of intelligence that was gathered in Venezuela as well. And
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: yet the media tried to say, well, this is just
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: some you know, Dictator Tyrant and Donald Trump going in
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: there and just taking out somebody.
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: No, it wasn't.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: There was a marathon, including conversations directly with Maduro and
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: telling him you've got multiple off ramps which you chose
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: not to take.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Well, let let let's start with what happened, and then
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about why it happened and what
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: the geopolitical incentives, what the reasons were for going in
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: and capturing Maduro. Then we're gonna talk about the legal basis,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: and finally we're gonna talk about what happens next. But
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: let's just start with what happened on Saturday, And the
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: best explanation of it that I've seen it is from
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on nickname Raisin Kane,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: and he laid out exactly what happened. And this clip
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: is a little long, it's about six seven minutes, but
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: it's worth listening to because he lays out with precision
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: what exactly occurred. So listen to the Chairman of the
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Joint Chiefs, General Kane.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: This operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve, was discreete precise,
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: and conducted during the darkest hours of January tewod and
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: was in the culmination of months of planning and rehearsal.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional.
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: This mission was meticulously planned, drawing lessons from decades of
• 6:42
  Speaker 5: missions over the last many years. Decades are many missions
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: over these last many years.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: This was an.
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: Audacious operation that only the United States could do. It
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: required the utmost of precision and integration within our Joint Force,
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: and the word integration does not explain the sheer complexity
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: of such a mission, an extraction so precise it involved
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: more than one hundred and fifty aircraft launching across the
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: Western Hemisphere in close coordination, all coming together in time
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: and place to layer effects for a single purpose to
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: get an interdiction force into downtown Caraccas while maintaining the
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: element of tactical surprise. Failure of one component of this
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: well oiled machine would have endangered the entire mission, and
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: failure is never an option for America's Joint Force. Those
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: in the air over Caraccas last night were willing to
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: give their lives for those on the ground and in
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: the helicopters. Let me talk a little bit about the preparation.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: Maduro and understand how we moved, where he lived, where
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: his pets? In early December, our force was set pending
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: a series of aligned events. Key was choosing the right
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: day to minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: the element of surprise and minimize the harm to the
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: indicted personnel, so as the President said, they could be
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: brought to justice. And as the President said earlier today,
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: weather in Venezuela is always a factor this time of
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: the year, and over the weeks through Christmas and New
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Year's the men and women of the United States Military
• 8:43
  Speaker 5: sat ready, patiently waiting for the right triggers to be
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: met and the President to order us into action. Last night,
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: the most skilled aviators in the world could maneuver through ocean,
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: mountain low cloud ceilings. But when tasked with a mission,
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: this organization does not quit. At ten forty six pm
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: Eastern time last night, the President ordered the United States
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: Military to move forward with this mission. He said to us,
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: and we appreciated, mister President, good luck and godspeed, and
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: those words were transmitted to the entire joint Force. Over
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: the course of the night, aircraft began launching from twenty
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: different bases on land and sea across the Western Hemisphere.
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: In total, more than one hundred and fifty aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance,
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: surveillance rotary wing were in the air last night. Thousands
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: and thousands of hours of experience were airborne. Our youngest
• 9:49
  Speaker 5: crew member was twenty and our oldest crew member was
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: forty nine, and there's simply no match for American military might.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: As the night began, the helicopters took off with the
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Extraction Force, which included law enforcement officers, and began their
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: flight into Venezuela at one hundred feet above the water.
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: As they approached Venezuelan shores, the United States began layering
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: different effects provided by Spacecom, Cybercom and other members of
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: the Inner Agency to create a pathway overhead. Those forces
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: were protected from aircraft were protected by aircraft from the
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: United States Marines, the United States Navy, the United States
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: Air Force, and the Air National Guard. The force included
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: F twenty two's F thirty fives, F eighteen's, EA eighteens,
• 10:38
  Speaker 5: E twos, B one bombers, and other support aircraft, as
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: well as numerous remotely piloted drones. As the force began
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: to approach Caracas, the Joint Air Component began dismantling and
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: ensure the safe passage of the helicopter into the target area.
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: The goal of our Air Component is, was and always
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: will be to protect the helicopters and the ground force
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: and get them to the target and get them home.
• 11:14
  Speaker 5: As the force crossed the last point of high terrain
• 11:17
  Speaker 5: where they'd been hiding in the clutter, we assessed that
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: we had maintained totally the element of surprise. As the
• 11:25
  Speaker 5: helicopter force ingressed towards the objective at low level. We
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: arrived at Maduro's compound at one one am Eastern Standard
• 11:34
  Speaker 5: time or two to one am Caracas local time, and
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: the apprehension force descended into Maduro's compound and moved with speed, precision,
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: and discipline towards their objective and isolated the area to
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: ensure the safety and security of the ground force while
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: apprehending the indicted persons. On arrival into the target area,
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: the helicopters came under fire, and they replied with that
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: fire with overwhelming force and self defense. One of our
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: aircraft was hit but remained fliable, and as the President
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home and
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: that aircraft remained fliable during the rest of the mission.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: As the operation unfolded at the compound, our air and
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: ground intelligence teams provided real time updates to the ground force,
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: ensuring those forces could safely navigate the complex environment without
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: unnecessary risk. The force remained protected by overhead tactical aviation.
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by
• 12:41
  Speaker 5: our incredible US military with professionalism and precision, which with
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: no loss of US life. After securing the indicted persons,
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: the force began to prep for departure. Helicopters were called
• 12:56
  Speaker 5: in to exfiltrate the extraction force, while fighter aircraft and
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: remotely piloted aircraft provided overhead coverage and suppressive fire. There
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: were multiple self defense engagements as the force began to
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: withdraw out of Venezuela. The force successfully exfiltrated and returned
• 13:16
  Speaker 5: to their afloat launch bases, and the force was over
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: the water at three twenty nine am Eastern Standard time
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: with indicted persons on board, and both Maduro and his
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: wife were embarked aboard the uss Uajima.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: You listen to that story center, and it's one that
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: for me is just like God bless America, like our
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: men and women, they are such heroes and I'm so
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: proud of them. I know when you were listening to
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: that and watching like everyone else, was just that pure
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: sense of pride in your country to see our military
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: get that. I also think the recognition they deserve for
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: doing this is another part of it.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: And Trump's letting them do their job.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: It goes back to what the FBI director says, We're
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: letting good cops be good cops.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: We're being letting law enforcement law enforced.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: They're letting the military men and women do what they
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: do well without all the PBS, all the political correctness,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: like let them do their job.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Well and focusing on the bad guys. And you look
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: at the precision. This was an incredibly complicated military operation
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: and law enforcement arrest operation. And to go in Caracas
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: is a city of about five million people in the
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: metropolitan area. To go into a major city, to go
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: into a military base where you have soldiers, you've got
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: anti aircraft equipment, to go in successfully not have a helicopter,
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: not have a plane shot down. That that was execution
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: on the part of Delta Force. That was execution in
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: terms of satellites and spy operations, the CIA on the ground,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: the ability to neutralize Venezuela's ability to inflict harm and
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: strike back and to execute this flawlessly was remarkable. And
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: here's how President Trump put it. He put President Trump
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: put it put it very pithy. But listen to what
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the President said about what happened on Saturday.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: Late last night and early today.
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: At my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an
• 15:18
  Speaker 6: extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: military power, air land and sea was used to launch
• 15:30
  Speaker 6: a spectacular assault, and it was an assault like people
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: have not seen since World War Two. It was a
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicholas Maduro to justice.
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: displays of American military might and competence in American history.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: And if you think about it, we've done some other
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: good ones, like the attack on Solomoni, the attack on
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: Albeg Daddy, and the obliteration and decimation of the Iran
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: nuclear sites.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: You listen to that last from the President, like what
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: he's been able to do with foreign policy has been
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: pretty incredible. Also in doing it in a way that
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: protects American lives as well.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Look, look, and this is the opposite of
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: military adventurism of putting American troops on the ground for
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: an extended period of time. This is going after a clear,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: discreete objective and enemy of America and carrying out with precision.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I don't think there's another military on the face of
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: the planet that could carry out what the US military
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: did this weekend. And I got to say, every enemy
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: of America has got to be looking at this. China
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: is looking at this, going wow. Russia is looking at this,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: going wow. Iran, well, Iran doesn't have to look at this,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: because Iran saw when the president last year ordered B
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: two's to fly around the globe and drop the equivalent
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: of half a nuclear weapon bunker busters on the Iranian
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: nuclear facilities. Take them out again, no American loss of life,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: the precision, they hit precisely their target, They destroyed their target.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: In this instance, the same is true. And let's talk
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: about why so Venezuela.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: I think it's really important that people understand the why here.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: So Nicholas Maduro and his wife were both arrested and
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: they were transported to New York City Maduro is the
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: dictator of Venezuela. He is number one, illegitimate in power.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: He had been the number two when Hugo Chavez, a communist,
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: when he died in office. So, Hugo chavs you look
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: at Venezuela's history in nineteen fifty, where do you think
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Venezuela ranked in terms of GDP per capita?
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: I gotta assume it was not that high.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: It was number four in the world.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Really in nineteen fifty the top four countries for GDP
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: per capita where the United States, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Venezuela.
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: Venezuela because of gold. That's because of gold and oil, right.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Gold and oil, enormous natural resources. It was an incredibly
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: booming economy. But then what happened is Huo Chavez, a communist,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: came into power and just utterly destroyed the economy. There,
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: poverty skyrocketed. Chavez nationalized companies, nationalized oil resources, and and
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: and where do you think Venezuela ranks in terms of
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: the size of their oil reserves?
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: So I actually know too much about this. They are
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the largest oil reserves in the world.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: If I'm not mistaken, you're exactly right, they're bigger than
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Saudi Arabia, the bigger than the United States. Have got
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: massive oil reserves. They were incredibly prosperous, but it turns
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: out when communist comes power.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: No matter what resources you've got, they again screw it up,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: isn't I mean? I mean, if you think about how
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: small the country is compared to having the largest ore
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: reserves in the world, you'd think, how could you ever
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: have a government that's failing and a population living in poverty?
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: And yet this is proof that communism, even with the
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: number one old reserve in the world, still doesn't work.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Chavez and then Maduro after him, destroyed the economy,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: poverty skyrocket, and you've had over eight million Venezuelans flee
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: the country, go to neighboring countries, go to the United
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: States because they've just driven the economy into the ground.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: There also have been dictators and drug dealers, and if
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: you look at Maduro, Maduro came into power initially when
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Chavez died of cancer. He was then elected to be
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the leader of Venezuela. But then in twenty nineteen there
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: was another election that that America International observers everyone agrees
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Maduro lost he was beaten in the election. The Venezuelan
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: people said, no, we don't want Maduro, and he said,
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: I don't care. I've got the army. I'm staying in power.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: Which part of dictator do you not understand? And for
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: the last six years he has been in power as
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: a dictator. He has also opened Venezuela up, so he
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: works in close harmony with Cuba, the communist government there.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: He works very Cuba, by the way, with their oil.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: A lot of people don't understand that like Cuba desperately
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: relies on Venezuela.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm absolutely right, and we're going to talk about
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: the consequences of what this means in Latin America, but
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: especially Cuba, because I think it's highly consequential for Cuba.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: He also Maduro has been very very close to Putin
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: and Russia. He relies on Putin and Russia. He's been
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: very close to China and opened up opened up Venezuela
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: to China. He also has had a very close relationship
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: with Iran. You look at every enemy of America, and
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Maduro has said, if you're an enemy of America, my
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: communist regime is in business with you. You've got Iranian
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: operatives in Venezuela. You've got HESBA in Venezuela. And on
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: top of that, Maduro has been a major drug dealer
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: working his government, working hand in hand with the FARC
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: in Colombia, to bring massive amounts of drugs, particularly cocaine,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: into the United States. All of that is who Maduro is.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: But by the way, you mentioned China moment ago, just
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: to put in respective that China was there within hours
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: and their delegation was apparently still in the country when
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: we took him out and brought him back to America.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, imagine you meet with Maduro and then you
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: wake up a few hours later and they're like, Maduro's
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: been captured by America. Can you imagine China what they're
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: thinking right now?
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: No, I mean that was they were literally meeting with
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: him the day before the delegation was the Chinese delegation
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: was still in Venezuela, and boom, Maduro and his wife
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: are gone.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Actually, one of the best explanations of why Venezuela is
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: so significant is ironically from the show Jack Ryan, you know, Tom.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Clancy's book series.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, and this is a clip that's gone viral
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: online because it's just a couple of minutes, and it
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: was back in twenty nineteen with with the fictional character
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Jack Ryan explaining to classroom the importance of Venezuela.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Give a lesson. Watch the short clip.
• 22:19
  Speaker 7: What would you assume is the most major threat on
• 22:21
  Speaker 7: the world stage? Anybody just call it out.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: You don't have to raise your hands.
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: Definitely Russia.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: Definitely Russia. That's confident.
• 22:27
  Speaker 7: I like her.
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: Who says Russia?
• 22:29
  Speaker 7: Anybody agree with her?
• 22:30
  Speaker 6: And?
• 22:30
  Speaker 7: Okay, right?
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: Who else?
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: China?
• 22:33
  Speaker 7: Stop yelling at me?
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: But China.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: It's a good answer to anybody. Who else?
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: China?
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: North Korea?
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: North Korea? Any North Korea takers? And Venezuela anybody?
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Nope?
• 22:46
  Speaker 7: Oh yep, one guy in the back a little worried
• 22:48
  Speaker 7: about Venezuela.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: Everybody's cool with Venezuela.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: No threat.
• 22:51
  Speaker 7: Okay, let me ask you this, which one of these
• 22:53
  Speaker 7: places can claim to have the largest oil deposit on
• 22:56
  Speaker 7: the planet, more than Saudi more than Iran? Wow? Okay,
• 23:00
  Speaker 7: what about things like gold? More than all the minds
• 23:04
  Speaker 7: in Africa combined. The fact is that Venezuela is arguably
• 23:09
  Speaker 7: the single greatest resource of oil and minerals on the planet.
• 23:13
  Speaker 7: So why is this country in the midst of one
• 23:16
  Speaker 7: of the greatest humanitarian crises in modern history. Let's meet
• 23:20
  Speaker 7: President Nicholas Reyes. After rising to power on a wave
• 23:24
  Speaker 7: of nationalist pride, in a mere six years, this guy
• 23:28
  Speaker 7: has crippled the national economy by half. He has raised
• 23:31
  Speaker 7: the poverty rate by almost four hundred percent. Luckily for
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: the rest of us, he's up for reelection. So who's
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: running against him? This is Gloria Banalde. Now, Gloria is
• 23:43
  Speaker 7: a history professor turned activist. She's running against him on
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: a social justice platform and on the strength of, in
• 23:50
  Speaker 7: my humble opinion, just not being an asshole. Analyst predictions
• 23:57
  Speaker 7: as of today have the chances of Venezuela's total I'm
• 24:00
  Speaker 7: to collapse at eighty seven percent. On the news, they'll
• 24:04
  Speaker 7: call it a crisis, but on the world stage they'll
• 24:07
  Speaker 7: call it a failed state.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: If you've never heard that term.
• 24:11
  Speaker 7: Other examples of a failed state in recent history are Yemen, Iraq,
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: and Syria. And if that's not bad enough news for you, well,
• 24:22
  Speaker 7: Venezuela is also the only one of these places within
• 24:24
  Speaker 7: thirty minute range from the US of next gen nuclear missiles.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: You will not hear about any of this on the
• 24:31
  Speaker 7: news because the biggest players on the world stage do.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: Not want you to to them.
• 24:37
  Speaker 7: Unstable governments are nothing more than the greatest of opportunities.
• 24:41
  Speaker 7: So Russia, China to never be the most major threat
• 24:46
  Speaker 7: until countries like Venezuela leave the door open to our
• 24:51
  Speaker 7: very own backyard.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: To our very own backyard.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: And that goes back to not only, like you said,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: the resources there, but why China and Runussia and Iran
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and others need them so much center, But also you
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: got to explain the drug trafficking aspect of this. I
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: don't think people realize when they hear that this is
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: what they have a lot of people, I'm sure like, well,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: well then why didn't he just sell a bunch of oil.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Why didn't you just pump a bunch of oil. Why
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: would he get into the drug narco trafficking and just
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: sell all this oil and be rich?
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: Right?
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Simplify that, Explain that for people as they understand what
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: was behind that decision to get into the narco trade.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: So then let me clarify something about that. Jack Ryan clip,
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: he talks about Nicholas Reyes. Nicholas Rayes is a fictional character.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: That's Tom Tom Clancy, that's Nicholas Maduro. It just they
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: made up rays I guess, you know. I don't know
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: why Clancy didn't use the real guy, but it's fiction,
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: so so he made up Rayes.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: But what he's describing as Maduro is.
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly the same. The principle is the same.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And that Look, it is why Russia, it is
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: why China, It's why Iran, It's why HESBLA cares so
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: much about Venezuela veastries and also proximity of the United States.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: It's about two thousand miles away. It's four to five
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: hours from Miami to Venezuela. A missile from Venezuela to
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: the United States. It is very close for our enemies
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: to attack us from Venezuela. It is in our hemisphere.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: And you go back to the Monroe Doctrine. Early at
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: the founding of our country, the Monroe doctrine said we're
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: going to protect the western hemisphere, our hemisphere. And that's
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: something that President Trump has really leaned in, and in
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: fact it's been dubbed now the Donro Doctrine for President
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Trump really enforcing it and going and carrying out carrying
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: out this incredible military operation to arrest Maduro. Now you
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: asked why aren't they rich. They aren't rich because communism
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: doesn't work. Communism is a failed economic system. They were
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: rich when capitalism was it was an operation. When capitalism
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: was operating, they were produced the oil. The problem is
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: when when when they nationalized.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: An oil production, Well said, can we just explain. There
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: was a point when when people around the world wanted
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: to go to Venezuela because it was such a nice country.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: It was a safe country. It's beautiful, has beaches. Like
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I actually talked to Goby. We were older that said,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: we used to go to Venezuela as a vacation spot.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: It was before this all happened.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: They're much older now, but they were talking about how
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: beautiful it was and it was.
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: A thriving country.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: The only thing that killed it is what you're describing
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: right now.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: By the way, the communists we have in the United States,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: most notably comrade Mondami in New York, ought to take
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: a lesson from what a train wreck, what a disaster
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: communism is. We've seen that in Venezuela, We've seen that
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: in Cuba, We've seen that in North Korea, we've seen
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: that in the in the Soviet Union, communism doesn't work,
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: and it's it's disastrously bad. And and when the government
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: nationalized oil production, it turns out that that that that
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: that an authorityitarian government is really bad at producing oil.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: It's incredibly corrupt. It didn't invest in technology, The technology
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: all all crumbled, and and and it's in even though
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: it's got massive reserves, its production is a fraction of
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: what it used to be. Uh And and that's a
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: significant reason. You know, one of the the trades that
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: that that that Maduro did and and Chavez before him,
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: is a trade with Cuba where where Venezuela provides oil
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: to Cuba and Cuba provides manpower, provides thugs, provides soldiers
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: and enforcers that they used to oppress the Venezuelan people,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: and that trade.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: In fact, some of those Cubans apparently were supposed to
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: be protecting Maduro when we took him.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: Uh and and I suspect h some of those bodyguards
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: are no longer with us. We don't have the clear
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: tally on that, but but but I'm confident that that
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: although there was no loss of life on the American
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: side that those who were defending this corrupt narco terrorist Uh.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: I think there was was.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: We'll find out how significant the loss of life was,
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: but I'm confident some of those Cubans are no longer
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: with us. That's why President Trump went in there, because
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: you had number one, Venezuela flooding America with drugs. Number
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: two Venezuela opening up our hemisphere to enemies of America China, Russia, Iran, Hezbola,
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: all posing acute national security threats to the United States.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: And so that's why we went in there. And also,
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Venezuela is an incredibly harmful force throughout Latin America, trying
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: to spread communism, trying to spread anti Americanism throughout Latin America.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: But all right, here's the sixty four thousand dollars question.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Is it illegal?
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: If you turn on the TV, just about every academic,
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: just about everyone in the media, just about every Democrat says, oh,
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: this is horrible, this is illegal. There's no basis. So
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: let's break down. The short answer is, no, it was
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: not illegal. This was fully justified. Now why the administration
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: has several justifications. The administration has argued that the President
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: ordered this attack and ordered this apprehension under his inherent
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: authority under Article II of the Constitution.
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: Now what does that mean.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Well, the Constitution divides war making the power of war
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: making between Congress and the President, and they both have
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: different aspects of authority over war making. Article one, which
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: creates Congress and says all legislative authority is vested in
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: the United States. Congress gives Congress the authority declare war.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: So if there are extended, protracted use of military force,
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: particularly with forces on the ground, forces in harms way,
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: that then Congress should be involved. And I think Congress
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: for a long time has not been vigilant enough asserting
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: its Article one authority to be in charge of declaring war,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: in charge of authorizing military force. That's part of the
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: authority on the Constitution. But the other authority on the
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Constitution is Article two, which is establishes the office of
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: the Presidency in the executive branch, makes the president the
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: commander in chief. And there's an inherent authority there. There's
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: a long line line of authority that says that the
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: president has an authority to number one, respond to an
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: imminent threat, number two to protect us to protect Americans.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: So what I think, and we'll see as this goes
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: forward in litigation what the precise justification is, but the
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: principal justification is going to be the following. Maduro was indicted.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: He was indicted in New York City. The indictment. By
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: the way, you can read the indictment. I've got the
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: indictment right here in my hand. It is twenty five pages.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: The opening of the indictment says, for over twenty five years,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: and corrupted once legitimate in spits to import tons of
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: cocaine into the United States. Nicholas Maduro Moros, the defendant,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: with his co conspirators to use as illegally obtained authority
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: of cocaine to the United States. And so this was
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: an arrest effort, and so the FBI came and they
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: arrested him. They brought him to the United States, to
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: New York to be prosecuted in federal court.
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: A lot of you asked this question, why New York.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: We always see a lot of New York and people
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: going to New York afterwards when they get charged. Why
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: is New York a place where we see a lot
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: of these high profile individuals be charged. Is that just
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: the way that the courts set up? I know the answer.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: I want you to explain to everybody, because they're like,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: why do we keep seeing I mean, it can be
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: anybody from p Didy to The list goes on and
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: on of people Epstein that it's always New York.
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: Why is that?
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: So they're all across the country. There are US attorney
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: offices all across the country. Those US attorneys are appointed
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: by the President, they're confirmed by the Senate. The Southern
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: District of New York, which covers Manhattan, has a great
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: deal of expertise dealing with terrorism in particular. Obviously that's
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: where nine to eleven was. There been terrorism cases with
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: respect to Maduro. You could have brought that case in
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: multiple jurisdictions, multiple US attorneys, because the impacts of Maduro's
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: flooding cocaine into this country have harmed every state in
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: the Union. But it is unsurprising that it would be
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: the Southern District of New York leading this because they
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: have such long expertise in dealing with terrorism cases in particular,
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: and so that was where the U. S. Attorney went
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: to the grand jury and got the indictment and and
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: the justification. The main justification for the military going in
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: was to protect the FBI agents going to arrest Maduro,
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: because if they just sent the FBI agents, presume Madureau's
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: soldiers or bodyguards would would have shot and killed them.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: And and so the military was there to keep that
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: law enforcement safe. That's the principal justification. There are a
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: couple of other justifications. There's another justification, which which is
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: that that that Maduro was was leading a designated foreign
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: terrorist organization, and so they're existing legal authorities to go
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: after foreign terrorist organizations. That's something we're going to see
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: litigation on this, and that surely is going to be
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: a justification UH as well. And and then there's also
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: an inherent authority under Article two UH to protect Americans
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: from imminent threats. And and so I suspect we will
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: see some combination, if not all, three of those justifications
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: put forward as the basis for the President ordering ordering
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: this operation.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Let's also be clear when there have been people on
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: TV that just been lying saying this is unprecedented and
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Trump is off the reservation.
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: That is not true.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: We have gone after people that have done very similar
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: things just like this before, and Democrats were in favor
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: of it when that happened.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, Look, there's massive hypocrisy from Democrats. But
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: I will say that there's a long precedent that you
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: can go back. But the closest president is in nineteen
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: ninety Manuel Noriega. Manuel Noriega, what was leading Panama? He
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: was corrupt, he had been indicted also as a drug dealer.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: He was the de facto ruler of Panama. And George
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Herbert Walker Bush Bush forty one, there was again an
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: indictment and President Bush the first sent in the military
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: to arrest and remove Noriega, just like they did with
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: Maduro Norriega. Actually, do you know the date that Noriega
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: was apprehended?
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: I don't. What is it?
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: January third, exact same date, January third of nineteen ninety
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: is when the US government apprehended Doriega. You know, I
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: actually on January third, a good friend of mine, Victoria Coach,
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: who's the head of foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: She used to be by national security advisor for four years.
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: She was President Trump's Deputy National Security Advisor in the
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: first term. Her daughter was getting married on January third,
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: So I was joking with Victoria. I'm like, wow, you
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: really know how to celebrate your daughter's wedding by by
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: by apprehending a Latin Latin American dictator and terrorist on
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: the date of her wedding. Victoria was laughing at that,
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: And she and I have worked for more than a
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: decade fighting against Chavez and Maduro and the national security
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: and and and drug dealing threat and terrorism threat that
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: they posed to the United States. Do you know what
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: January third is?
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: Just as a.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: Short personal aside, what is that? It's also the date
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: that I met Heidi. No way, I met Heidi on
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: January third of two thousand. So President Trump decided apprehend
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Maduro on the twenty sixth anniversary of when I met
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: my wife, which was kind of an interesting an interesting coincidence.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: The Noriega example is I think quite compelling and what happened.
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: Noriega was arrested, they brought him to the United States,
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: they prosecuted him, he was convicted, he was sentenced to
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: forty years and he died in prison. He ultimately died,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: but there was litigation over does the president have the
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: authority to send in the military to arrest a corrupt
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Latin American dictator who is a drug dealer, And the
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: conclusion of that litigation was yes. That is for every
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: pompous buffoon on TV saying there's no authority to do this,
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: that is a big, big problem.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: I want to go back. Can we go back to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer and just that. I think it was twenty
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: twenty when he had something very interesting to say.
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: Can we play that for everybody real quick?
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: Yep?
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: All right, take a listen. This is Chuck Schumer back
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty. Listen carefully to the words that he
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: has to say. You're gonna get a kick out of this.
• 38:10
  Speaker 8: He brags about all these things he wants to do
• 38:13
  Speaker 8: or is doing, but his actions belie his words. Maybe
• 38:16
  Speaker 8: the best metaphor was his claim to bring democracy to Venezuela.
• 38:23
  Speaker 8: There was a big policy there.
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: It flopped.
• 38:26
  Speaker 8: If the policy was working, Juan Guido wouldn't be in
• 38:29
  Speaker 8: the balcony here, he'd be in Venezuela. He'd be sitting
• 38:32
  Speaker 8: in the president's palace, or at least waging a.
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: Fight to win.
• 38:36
  Speaker 8: He's here, and the president brags about his Venezuela policy.
• 38:40
  Speaker 8: Give us a break. He hasn't brought an end to
• 38:43
  Speaker 8: the Maduro regime. The Meduro regime is more powerful today
• 38:47
  Speaker 8: and more entrenched today than it was when the president began.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: So here's my part about this that makes me laugh. Democrats,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: and there's a tweet that's very much like that, the
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: same thing from Joe Biden. Yeah, they were angry that
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: Trump had taken out Maduro. Now Trump takes out Maduro,
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: and now they're angry at Trump for taking out Maduro.
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: You cannot make it up.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen carefully to what Schumer just said. There,
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: give us a break. He hasn't ended the Maduro regime.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: So he was on the floor of the Senate. This
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: is a speech where he was blasting Trump in twenty
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: twenty for not having taken Maduro out. And now in
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: the wake of President Trump having another enormously successful military operation,
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: the last just a few hours in actual execution, and
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: then it was over, and then Maduro was gone and
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: he was on his way to the United States. Schumer
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: and Kamala Harris and just about every Democrat you find
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: are are freaking out and they're just being hypocrites. They
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: just hate Trump and and just like they're defending every
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: illegal immigrant, they're defending all of the gang bangers who
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: are here. In this case, the Democrats are becoming the
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: chief defender of of Nicholas Maduro.
• 40:01
  Speaker 3: But as I mentioned on.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: The legal front, if you look back to Noriega front
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: and center in terms of the litigation that will happen
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: over this is that in nineteen eighty nine, Bill Barr
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: was the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel. Now,
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: Bill Barr, you have a call, ended up becoming George
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: Herbert Walker Bush's attorney general, and then he was also
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: a g for President Trump in the first term. Bill
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: Barr at the time was leading what's called OLC, and
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: OLC is charged under federal law with writing authoritative opinions
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: on what is what is the constitution, what is legal?
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: What are the constraints on the executive branch? And by
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: the way, there is a long history of incredibly important
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: jurist and scholars being the heads of OLC, including Antonin Scalia.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: He was the head of OLC, including William Renquist, for
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: whom I clerked if Justice of the Supreme Court. He
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: was the head of OLC under Nixon, including Chuck Cooper,
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: my first boss when I practiced law. Uh So OLC
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: that they are typically they are often US Supreme Court
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: clerks themselves. They are constitutional experts. And Barr issued a
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: detailed opinion making clear that the US government had the
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: authority to go and apprehend uh uh Noriega and and
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: and Barr said several things, So it's a detailed opinion.
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: By the way, you can read the entire opinion. The
• 41:30
  Speaker 3: opinion is public. Uh.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: But but Barr concluded that Number one, the FBI statutory
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: arrest authority quote authorisest extra territorial investigations and arrests. So
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: that's in the statute existing US law. The FBI can
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: go abroad and arrest someone. And and Barr concluded the
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: president can lawfully order that extratorial extra territorial arrest and
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: and interestingly, bar so one of the main arguments that
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: democrats in the media, although that's redundant because they're one
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: in the same democrats in the media, and by the way,
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: law professors fall into that same camp. They're all clutching
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: their pearls. And their main argument deals with the United
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: Nations Charter and an Article two four of the un
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: Charter prohibits the quote use of force against the territorial
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: integrity of any state. And so their main argument is
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: this violates the un Charter. Well, what Barr concluded, and
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: this is a quote and by the way, it's not
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: just Barr's opinion. This is a binding decision from OLC
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: that binds the executive and lesson until it's overturned. So
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: it is like a judicial opinion, but within the executive branch.
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: Barr said that Article two four of the UN Charter
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: does not quote prohibit the executive, as a matter of
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: domestic law, from authorizing forcible abductions. Put another way, quote,
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: as a matter of domestic law, the executive has the
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: to authorize actions inconsistent with Article two four of the
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: un Charter. What does that mean? The the un Charter
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: is not independently binding on the United States government. The
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: Constitution is binding on the government. You know, back before
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: I was in the Senate, what I did for a
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: living is argued us Supreme Court cases and and the
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: most consequential case that I argued before the Supreme Court
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: was a case called Mediing versus Texas.
• 43:26
  Speaker 3: I ended up winning six y three.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: It was an incredibly consequential case, but it dealt with
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: the authority of the International Court of Justice, the World Court,
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: the judicial arm of the UN, to bind the US
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: justice system. And and and I argued representing the State
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: of Texas successfully, the UN doesn't have the authority to
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: do that. The World Court doesn't have the authority to
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: do it. It is the US Constitution, and it is
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: US laws. And if Congress wants to pass a law,
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: that can be binding. But Congress had not in that
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: in Median passed a law relevant to the issue there. Likewise,
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: here the DOJ opinion was, even if the UN Charter
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: says something different, as a matter of US constitutional law,
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: the President can order this. And critically, the Bar opinion
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: also concluded that a US arrest abroad quote in violation
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: of foreign law does not violate the Fourth Amendments. And
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: to be clear, the Bar opinion was litigated in the
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: nor Dieega case and and Noriega state in jail, so
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: he lost all of those claims. That is really powerful
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: legal precedent, and it is very closely on point.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: You talk about the legal side this, I want to
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: ask just real quickly, are there other legal aspects and
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: challenges in this case It could come up as well.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Well, yes, and look, there are distinctions that I would
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: expect Maduro to argue between this case and the Noriega case.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: In in the Norriega case, the General Assembly in Panama
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: had actually declared war on the United States.
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: Uh.
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: Secondly, they had shot and killed a US marine. And
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: so those are both both facts that that leaned in
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: favor of Noriega the president being able to respond and
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: respond militarily. In this instance, the government of of of
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Venezuela has not formally declared war on the United States.
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: And they have not uh, they have not killed a
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: marine or a service member. Although uh, Maduro's drug trafficking
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: has killed countless Americans thousands, and and and and you know,
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, a massive number of
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Americans Maduro is responsible for killing through drug trafficking. I
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: will say also that there is a second issue that
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: will be litigated, which is what's called head of state immunity.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: So Maduro will go and argue that that the actions
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: he carried out were as the leader of Venezuela and
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: as a general principle US government, US courts don't imp
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: hose criminal liability for the actions a head of state does,
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: and Noriega was the de facto leader of Panama, but
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: he was not elected by the people. In this case,
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: the guy was recognized as a head of state, and
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: so it's different from Noriega.
• 46:18
  Speaker 3: That will be litigated.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: I think the response to that is fine, that may
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: have been he may have enjoyed that immunity back in
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, but twenty nineteen when he ignored
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: the results of the election and seized power illegitimately, everyone
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: agrees he was illegitimate. The United States, by the way,
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: the Biden administration agreed that. The first Trump administration agreed
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: that most of the rest of the world is acknowledged
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: that Maduro stayed in power illegitimately. One exception from head
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: of state immunity is if the government invites you in.
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: In this case, I think you would say there's not
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: an operational government that is legitimate, that he was, he
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: was an illegitimate dictator, but that will be a subject
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: of litigation. It would not surprise me to see that
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: question go all the way to the US Supreme Court.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: All right, and finally, I know I'm gonna laugh because
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: I know you're gonna have an answer to this. Are
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: there any other legal presents that are going to come
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: up in here as well as we wrap up the
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: legal side of this.
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: There are, And there's a line of cases that's known
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: as the Kerf Frisbee doctrine, which says that that unlawful
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: abductions of criminals on foreign soil does not stop the
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: criminal prosecution of those individuals in US courts. And the
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: lead case in this line of cases is a case
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: called the United States versus alvarezma Chain. It was a
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two ruling, and the Supreme Court six' three
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: concluded that A mexican national who was forcibly abducted In
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: mexico from his home brought to The United states that
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: he could be criminally. Prosecuted it didn't matter if his
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: being seized abroad was, illegally and so that line of.
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: Cases If maduro were just a run of the mill drug,
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: dealer it would be a very easy question that regardless
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: of the circumstances of his. Capture if he VIOLATED us criminal,
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: laws he could be prosecuted, here and so that line
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: of CASES i think will be. Relevant and, again all
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: the folks ON tv claiming this is illegal are ignoring
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: both The constitution And Supreme court, precedent not to mention
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: the BINDING doj opinion from nineteen eighty.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Nine, Center we've run along on this legal, issue which
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: is so, important AND i hope that everyone listening right
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: now enjoyed, it BECAUSE i feel Like i've learned a.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: Lot i'm hoping that everyone listening has learned a lot
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: on the legal side of.
• 48:47
  Speaker 4: This but there's still a lot that we've.
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: Not gotten a covery At, Center so we're gonna do
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: that On wednesday. Show let's just talk a little bit
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: of preview on. That there's a lot of people asking
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: why was the wife? Arrested what's next Is, venezuela What
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: america's role should be? There also what's next for other
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: countries that have been, warned whether That's, Mexico. Columbia the
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: list goes kind of on and on in this part
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: of the world with narco, terrorism uh and also the
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: warnings To iran that have come from This White. House
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: all these are. Connected so let's kind of lay out
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: what you're gonna get On.
• 49:14
  Speaker 4: Wednesday, Yeah, look.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: In terms of the, wife the answer to that is
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: is pretty. Simple she also has been. Indicted she's been
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: indicted as a collaborator who's been actively participating in the
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: in the criminal effort to be a drug, dealer and
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: she's been actively part of. It Uh, and so she's
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: separately indicted as another criminal. Defendant uh and and that's
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: why she was arrested as. Well what we're going to
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: talk about On wednesday is is there are very significant
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: geopolitical issues in terms of the rest Of Latin america
• 49:42
  Speaker 2: and in Particular. Cuba cuba is enormously dependent On. Venezuela
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: venezuela is enormously dependent On, cuba and and taking Out
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: maduro puts the communist regime In cuba in in in real.
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: Jeopardy and and and AND i think we could end
• 49:58
  Speaker 2: up SEEING i think there's a real possibility that we
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: see the communist government In cuba. Fall you also look
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: at In Colombia petro as an Anti american. Leftist there
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: was a very close ally Of, maduro's very close ally
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: of the communist government In. CUBA i think The colombian
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: leadership has got to be worried about this as. Well
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: so we're gonna break down those geopolitical issues On wednesday's,
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: Podcast but we're also going to talk about going, forward
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: which is What President trump did here was very. Important
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: he sent in a very targeted effort to go and
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: Arrest maduro for this. Indictment he succeeded incredibly. Well the
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: question is where do we go from? Here and early
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: on the administration has suggested That maduro's vice president is
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: likely to remain in charge Of. Venezuela that is raising significant.
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: Concerns we're going to talk about that because Because maduro's
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: vice president is also a Leftist america hating, communist and
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: and so that that that that raises significant. Problems one
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: of the justifications for going in is is That maduro was,
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: illegitimate and SO i think it's important and we're going
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: to talk about this On, wednesday that that that that
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: there be a democratic election In venezuela relatively, quickly so
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: that you have a, legitimate democratically elected. Leader AND i
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: also think it is very important That america not get
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: mired down in a long extended. OCCUPATION i don't think
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: that's gonna. HAPPEN i don't Think President trump wants that to.
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: Happen but there are real risks and and we we've
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: seen that uh in in the wake Of, afghanistan in
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: the wake Of iraq to having a long EXTENDED us
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: military presence on the. Ground and so we're going to
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: talk about the risks there and and and also about
• 51:50
  Speaker 2: Uh Maria Karina, machado the leader of the, opposition what her,
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: Role Juan, guido what's gonna happen. Next all of that's
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: going to be In wednesday's.
• 51:59
  Speaker 4: Podcast it's going to be a really interesting. One don't.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: Forget download this Show, Monday Wednesday friday wherever you get
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: your podcasts at that subscriber on a download. Button and
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: this pod we do most days now on video as,
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: well so you can watch On facebook or on. YouTube
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: grab that there as well in the. CENTER i will
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: see you back here On wednesday morning for another really fun.
• 52:17
  Speaker 4: Show