Thune Statement on Arrest of Nicolas Maduro
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today released the following statement after President Trump announced that federal drug fugitive Nicolas Maduro was captured for the purposes of being held accountable for his crimes.
“For years, Nicolas Maduro, the cartel he leads, and other cartels in Latin America have trafficked drugs into the United States, which have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States. I am grateful for the brave men and women of our armed forces who carried out this necessary action. I spoke to Secretary Rubio early this morning, and I look forward to receiving further briefings from the administration on this operation as part of its comprehensive counternarcotics strategy when the Senate returns to Washington next week.”
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OH MY!
And let the apoplectic liberal meltdowns begin in 3…2…1…GO!
Who’s going to be the first one?
He didnt receive congressional approval. I’m a conservative and am not happy about this either. The constitution should matter no matter who is in office. But you aren’t really a conservative anyway. What matters to you is who you think is on your team. The Constitution is just decoration for people like you.
Participation trophy has been claimed.
Nothing of substance to say. What is the legal justification for such a strike? Do you even care to try to explain your position, or is childish snippiness literally all there is to your character?
One justification is Maduro’s status as a criminal fugitive under U.S. indictment.
I’m sure there are more.
So, any country that has a US fugitive in it is subject to military strikes without congressional approval? The AUMF doesnt provide for that, so what legal authority does?
Did Obama get Congressional approval to go after Bin Laden? How about El Chapo? was Congress informed prior to any of the 563 drone strikes Obama ordered in Somalia, Yemen, or Pakistan?
Did the al-Awlakis, both US citizens, get anything resembling due process prior to their executions?
Oh, so since Obama did it, you’re cool with Trump doing it. Way to blow a hole in your argument. Btw, El Chapo was arrested by the Mexican military – then transferred to the US.
Seriously, sort out your stance on things, because you seem to be tying yourself up in knots. Just because one did a thing, doesn’t make it ok for people in the future to do the thing.
you seriously think the Mexican government was going to collect El Chapo without the US “help?”
Every time the Mexicans caught him, they let him escape. In a laundry cart, another time through a mile-long tunnel. Oh sure.
They really tried to keep him locked up, didn’t they?
I bet they really wanted “help” from the USA ; Uncle Godfather Sam probably made them an offer they couldn’t refuse..
How is any of that word salad relevant to the fact that the US didnt conduct military strikes to secure El Chapo? You were wrong. It’s not a big deal to be wrong.
Because the USA probably threatened a military strike if they didn’t hand El Chapo over.
Supposedly the USA made no attempt to extradite Bin Laden from Pakistan.
Maduro was offered the opportunity to surrender. He refused.
Again, the AUMF laid out explicitly and expansion of Presidential authority for countries harboring individuals responsible for 9/11. And you just admitted Mexico deported El Chapo and tried to use a “probably” to weasel your way out of it. It’s ok to admit you’re wrong.
You really, really need to read the AUMF. It specifically grants authority related to 9/11. I still think Obama went too far and should have been hauled in front of congress, but at least the Bin Laden raid had a specific bill he could point to. As to your other points, save El Chapo, which is really dumb: yes. All illegal, in my mind.
A lot of lying Republicans are going to rush to podiums everywhere and tell you to vote for THEM if you want to stop Trump’s dictatorial expansionism. DO NOT BELIEVE IT. And if they tell you they’re supporting the wars, DO NOT VOTE FOR THEM. This all is way over the line. We didnt suddenly become Trumps plantation workers last January, his little possessions.
Thank you U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (TRUMP-S.D)! Our Banana Republic will be safer! Greenland next?
And we have the winner!
Your “3…2…1…GO” schtick is getting old. You are the “winner” in boring.
And you continue to prove yourself a moron.
As long as it is legal and we can make America safer, I offer my full support. I am concerned about what happens now. Do we have enough evidence to convict? Who provides the trial? Where does the leader and his wife serve time?
This should work out about as well as capturing and deposing that other despotic dictator named Saddam Hussein – also on false pretenses. Followed by twenty years of war and chaos in and around Iraq.
Deposing the dictator is the easy part.
And isn’t it weird that another South American dictator who was convicted in the US on drug charges received an inexplicable Trump pardon and was recently released from a federal prison. C’mon people, it’s never really been about drugs.
Please help us all understand and reconcile the fates of these two drug lords.
Maybe he wants to convict Maduro, then PARDON him so he and Hernandez can be a matched set on his golden shelf.
ah, the war in Iraq that both Senators Clinton and Biden voted for. Senator Clinton’s husband had recently left the oval office where he’d been privy to all the intelligence reports, and if she questioned any of the “pretenses” all she had to do was ask him. Senator Biden was Chairman of the Foreign Relations committee and also had access to the intelligence reports.
In fact, at the time I questioned what the public was being told, and thought if those two Senators voted for the war,,they knew something the rest of us didn’t.
We have a 1st place for boot licker.
Coming from someone who feasts on feces.
No not I. The poor souls that have been illegally arrested under the Trump administration without due process and sent to a country where they have no connection to may be eating something that resembles fecal matter under horrid conditions at a concentration camp.
It’s about time we brought back the Monroe Doctrine.
And powdered wigs !!!! Gotta love it
If FOTUS manages to bring PUTIN in in chains I might be impressed. Anything less than that, he’s just the biggest second-rate gangster on the block. His seething disrespect for ANY peoples’ right of self governance, including and especially OURS, is now fully on display. He’s a crook. Always a crook.
If Jack Smith’s eight hours of actionable evidence can’t put a Trump in prison according to the past laws of this land, I can’t wait to see how the legal-ish cosplay of Pam Bondi and tiny Shrubio is crammed into a Court TV extravaganza and made to resemble a process-led adjudication.
“I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars.” (President-Elect Donald J. Trump victory speech November 5th, 2024) And today, Trump says that “we’re going to run the country” for now.
American-led wars usually start out popular and fade over time. This one, I suspect, will be different.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. But not even the Gang of Eight was informed, ahead of the attack.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 allows Congress to create a militarized organization. Which, a corrupted congress had done between 1860-1890 behind Abraham Lincoln. The original American Government (1789) had ceased to exist in 1859, the Congress became abandoned in 1861 when the southern congressmen all walked out. What happened next, was Abraham Lincoln who was not conservative by any means, began to incorporate all federal property, adopted the Lieber Code, thus created the militarized territory. He then used Article 1, Section 8, Clauses 13-16 to put together the governmental system under the territory. As the new congress was put together, they further adopt the Act of 1871, allowing them to put in place a provisional government, creating two districts, North and South, They forced the states to agree to amendments 13, 14, 15, and further 16 and 17. All federal persons from that point had to take a Iron Clad oath to defend and protect the national government, now a Administrative-Militarized Municipal State, while the constitution was suspended, allowed the president to suspend habius corpis, while stripping everyones natural rights, granting them U.S Citzienship status, civil rights, immunities, and privileges. By 1874, they had created the municipal government in the territory, while by 1893 this new corporate government partnered with the Rothschild, Belmont, Chase Syndicate, allowing a group of bankers to buy treasury bonds to be sold for profit to foreign investors, to whom now loan that money back to the newly created government. Can you say money laundering? From 1890 to 1990 new departments were created, agencies, and non-profits were created to hide federal monies allowing the congressmen, including John Thune to become wealthy off a $175,000 salary. Lets not forget the war powers act that transferred all war powers from Congress to the President, now the commander of this militarized organization. So, no, Congress could not stop Donald Trump here, nor did Trump want to let Congress know what he was about to do, cause Congress is so far corrupted, they would have leaked the plan. John Thune is the traitor. He knew of the election fraud, money laundering, Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Sex Trafficking, and did nothing about it. He has blood on his hands, and hopefully soon, Mr Thune will be imprisoned in Gitmo along side many politicians here in South Dakota, not to expose the names, That will come in due time. They know who they are. Oh boy, when the truth comes out, heads will roll.
Read this Story, the Truth will Come out very soon:
https://badlands.substack.com/p/a-family-affair?fbclid=IwY2xjawPHYdpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeFcd59MrZlm90grmG0VWg7mfLw92Tbj6KtR1o7qTteX3xDXIgNNffuIkRlYE_aem_7jT6WBXerMnB4buOYldmmA
Sincerely,
Mr. X
What a bunch of lost-cause “this was about states rights” history revision malarky. O. M. G. The true crisis at play right now is the collapse of Congress and the judicial system since early 2023, under rule by the Trump Republican Party of the US. Lincoln’s Republican Party is not the problem here. Oh no.
We have now entered a much more dangerous period not only for the US but for the world as the Trump administration has jettisoned the International rules based order. His super wealthy cronies will go in a strip the resources of that country.
World War 3 may no longer be if but when now.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson as usual has a great podcast on this.
Does anyone actualy think that this isn’t going to turn into some kind of massive quagmire if President Trump actually tries to “run the country, for now”?
Will the people of Venezuelia actully turn over the oil and oil companies that have been proprty of their government since the 1970’s?
This has HUGE potential to turn into another Iraq and Afganistan – we can accomplish our early military goals quickly, and then we’re commiting to decades worth of occupation and massive spending. And creating a large number of people who now hate us who in the past didn’t.
This wasn’t run past congress for congressional approval – and that’s bad. if Biden or Obama had done this without consulting congress, most people here would have been shouting about impeachment.
And you would have been right.
Because this was an act of war.
We don’t know how this is going to turn out. There IS a very very slight chance that this will end up being more like Panama or Granada than like Iraq or Afganistan. And only time will tell. But because the President didn’t consult Congress before doing this, he has unilaterally committed us. We are in this and we may be another generation of American Youth to another country for no descernable reward.
Wow for a guy who hated Dick Cheney’s guts, Trump has OUT DICKED Dick Cheney, eclipsing any Cheney evils in one fell swoop. Biggest globalist and interventionist ever, of all time. Congrats MAGA you sure can pick em.
this is textbook “tail-wagging-the-dog” for a domestic-failure president to shift the spotlight somewhere else.
Yeah the Democrats thought it was really great when Obama invaded Pakistan, which is an actual nation with nukes, grabbed Bin Laden and didn’t have him brought back alive for trial, without Congressional or Judicial approval,
But let’s get hysterical because Trump went after an indicted criminal with a judicial warrant and picked him up in a glorified gas station, and brought him back to stand trial. That’s really bad. we should all be mad.
Obama didnt remove a country’s leader and take over the country to steal the oil.
the oil companies were operating legally in Venezeula prior to 1976, and things were pretty good at the time. Since nationalization of the oil business, it’s all gone to hell. Maduro was turning it all over to China, that’s why he had just met with the Chinese delegation, to sign off on a rumored 600 (six hundred???!) agreements.
This meeting forced the Trump administration’s hand.
Let the oil companies go back to running it. They’ll do a better job.
idiotic complaint about oil, as usual, as if it has all the strategic significance of paper plates..
Have you ever met anybody who experienced the Battle of Stalingrad?
I did, he was an old Russian guy who was 13 at the time. That battle was about oil. Germany’s loss, the failure to get the oil, was a turning point in WWII.
Oil is a big deal whether you like it or not. Without oil, agriculture fails and famine ensues, wars are lost and people freeze to death. Your life depends on oil.
Venezuelan oil is low grade, high in sulfur, and as a result is much more intensive to refine than anything that’s produced domestically.
Except oil refineries in the Southern US, particularly along the gulf coast, are explicitly designed to refine this sort of sour crude. Try again.
I have heard the same thing about Canadian oil. That’s why the anti pipeline crowd wants it transported by rail instead of pipelines.
Canadian Tar sands oil is a completely different beast. I own wells in ND and I wouldn’t support XL2. That oil probably should stay in the ground and if it goes anywhere, it should be a train. Bakken oil should be illegal to be a train. It’s a ticking time bomb. Just ask Casselton ND.
This could be an amendment to Marsy’s Law:
Once a prosecutor gets an indictment on an alleged criminal, law enforcement can’t pick him up without informing Congress first.
This is a dandy idea.
Ah yes, arresting an indicted criminal on US soil is the exact same as conducting military strikes on foreign soil. How could we not see this?
Being an old fart I remember when Cuba wasn’t a country, it was a casino run by the Mafia, and Venezuela wasn’t a country, it was a gas station run by the oil companies.
Those were the good old days.
Put the oil companies back in charge.
John Thune better watch his back, cause the Military Strike on Venzuela is about Election Fraud, Drug Trafficking, Human Trafficking, and Money Laundering. And John Thune’s name pops up all over for being in bed with the election system fraud in Venzuela. Trump knows. John Thune has never worked a job in his life, fresh of highschool and college, he went right into lobbying, and politics. Interesting, who has he been covering up for. We dont forget that Mr Thune turned on Trump in January 2021, and we dont forget that Thune is in bed with money laundering organizations, and Thune is in bed with the 2020 Election Fraud. John Thune’s career is over, and the Military has all the information now.
You should put that bong down NOW!!
The Biden-Harris administration made available a $25,000,000 reward for information that would have lead to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro. Now the Democrats are saying capturing him is unlawful?
I was told the problem was that we were killing narcoterrorists rather than using force to detain and prosecute them.
Now, it turns out capturing, detaining and prosecuting them isn’t acceptable either.
You arent capable of discerning the difference between rewarding non government agents money for capturing a fugitive and taking direct military action to do so without congressional approval? You really can’t tell the difference and why that might matter from a legal perspective?
Anon 12:51 – Most of Trump’s support base is standing by their “man.” They never cared about a strong GOP, they never cared about conservative limited government. Trump being dictator isn’t about making America great, it is only about getting the next crackpipeful of the vicarious rush of power they’ve been groomed to feel, every time Trump commits a new selfish outrage.
The War Powers Act limits what the president can do with military forces if lacking Congressional approval. U.S. forces sent into combat are limited to 90 days without a Congressional resolution, 30 of which must be spent on their withdrawal.
While the War Powers Act limits prolonged engagements, it also grants the president the authority to “respond to attacks and other emergencies.” This was the right that President Trump claimed in 2017 after ordering missile strikes against a military base in Syria without explicit Congressional approval.
Every president since the WPA was enacted in 1973 has used it to varying degrees.
And what attack occurred here that allowed the unilateral use of military force? You quickly glossed over that. South Dakota’s federal officers seem to assert this was more a law enforcement operation. If that’s the case, can the President legally order military strikes anywhere a US fugitive may be residing?
“can the President legally order military strikes anywhere a US fugitive may be residing?”
This is a very foolish argument because you know it’s not going to happen and Maduro is a much more serious situation. Are you seriously comparing any US fugitive to Maduro? Equate any of the typical US fugitives running around out there in the world to Maduro. Have they declared themselves the leader of a country and stolen an election(s) and seated themselves as a dictator? How many of their citizens have they murdered or thrown in jail as political prisoners? How much of their country’s industry have they confiscated to make themselves rich? Who, of these US fugitives, have used their position and have worked hand in hand with several cartels to turn their country into an international distribution center for illegal drugs and have destroyed millions of American lives over the years? Please, equate the two for us.
I JUST HIT BLACKOUT BINGO on my “Signs That Trump Is The Antichrist” card!! Woo Hoo!!
“Trump Threatens other Countries as Venezuela’s Maduro makes US Court Appearance”
That is the headline on CNN right now. This is not a joke.
From the article: “President Donald Trump declared the US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela. He also issued warnings to other countries, saying he could take military action in Colombia, told Mexico to get its ‘act together’ on drugs and said the US ‘needs Greenland’.”
Wake the frack up, people!
CNN, a totally unbiased news organization,
Mostly peaceful protests (with buildings burning in the background)
The emperor has no clothes.
“In just 37 minutes while speaking with reporters Sunday aboard Air Force One, Trump threatened to attack five countries, both allies and adversaries, with the might of the U.S. military — an extraordinary turn for a president who built his political career rejecting traditional conservative views on the exercise of American power and vowing to put America first.”
Unhinged
Ditto to that. Absolutely bonkers!
https://youtu.be/rQr7Gfn_i0E?si=5crDhD06ZrtQmWdb
This is “The Body Language Guy,” who normally creates youtube content out of his analysis of the body language of people seen in TV news broadcasts. I had watched a number of his videos prior to this, did not know he was a Venezuelan living in Europe and never heard him use profanity before.
He has a message here for everybody who is complaining about the arrest of Maduro. It’s loaded with colorful language.
Enjoy.
Nonbody here is commenting about Maduro’s status as leader in Venezuela. Maybe a little surprised Anne thinks “the body language guy’s” opinion overrules the Constitution.
That explains a lot, Anne.
Of course Maduro is a bad guy. Putin is a bad guy. There are many of them. But our president thinks he can disregard the constitutional limitations placed on that office.
He thinks he can just start taking over other countries because… well… they have a leader he doesn’t like, or they have oil, or a large land mass, or God knows what. He forgets that he works for the American people, and they want nothing to do with this world domination scheme.
Sure, the United States military is powerful. They can go into some countries, extract their leaders, and take over in hours. ITS STILL AN ACT OF WAR, NO MATTER HOW QUICKLY IT CAN BE DONE. And only Congress has the authority to declare war. He doesn’t even notify leaders of Congress before attacking and declaring that he will “run” that country.
Obviously, Trump’s actions will embolden Russia and China to do the same. It scares allies, and it almost certainly will increase resentment toward Americans in general.
Your obnoxious video doesn’t change any of that. It’s just stupid.
From the Wall Street Editorial Board this morning:
“The only defense against global rogues is the deterrent of Western military force. That force was on display with flawless precision in snatching Mr. Maduro. And the demonstration of U.S. nerve and military prowess will do more than a thousand U.N. resolutions to protect the free world and make Russia, China and Iran think twice.
Liberal internationalism is a moral and political failure if it can’t distinguish between the aggression of Russia and China to swallow neighboring democracies and a U.S. military action to arrest a lawless dictator in league with the world’s worst actors.”
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/international-law-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-united-nations-china-russia-c68f4427?st=skbVt7
The resounding theme of the Trump haters on this thread seem to revolve around their bitching and crying that Trump didn’t get permission from Congress or there is not legal justification to use military action in Venezuela. There is plenty of policy precedent justifying the action for those who are not suffering from TDS.
The Monroe Doctrine w/The Roosevelt Corollary. President Reagen used the Monroe Doctrine as part of the legal justification for sending the military to Grenada in 1983. And to also support the Contras to oppose the Sandinistas in El Salvadore. President Bush (the senior) used the Monroe Doctrine as part of the justification to send the military to Panama in 1989, to oust Noriega and protect the Panama Canal. President Kennedy used the Monroe doctrine as part of the justification to enact the naval blockade on Cuba to get the USSR out of Cuba in October 1962. Kennedy correctly used this as justification even though the tension the action caused had brought the USA and USSR closer to the brink of war than at any time in history. Maduro has been active in obtaining Russia and China military hardware and systems and to get those countries, as well as Cuba and Iran, to establish a presence in Venezuela (who do you think supplied the anti-aircraft systems that the US neutralized?). You are a fool if you think allowing Russia and China and other bad actors to establish a military presence, or any kind of presence, in Venezuela won’t pose a security risk to the USA.
As far as the crying about “He didn’t get approval from Congress,” here’s a list of justified uses of military action that did not have prior approval from Congress:
-In Oct 1962, President Kennedy did not get prior authorization from Congress to enact a naval blockade on Cuba.
-In 1983, President Reagan did not get prior authorization from Congress to invade Grenada.
-In 1986, President Reagan did not get prior authorization to strike Libya.
-In 1989, President George Bush did not get prior authorization from Congress to invade Panama and capture Manuel Noriega and bring him back to the US for prosecution after being indicted on drug trafficking charges (sound familiar?).
-In 1999, Bill Clinton did not get prior authorization from Congress and DID NOT have a UN mandate when he order air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
-In 2011, President Obama did not have prior authorization from Congress to launch attacks against Libya and remove Muammar Gaddafi from power.
-In 2013, President Obama did not have prior authorization from Congress to launch attacks against Syria.
How about it, was the use of military force justified for Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama? Or is it just the Republicans that overstep their authority?
And we can’t forget about statements made by democrats in the past condemning Maduro as a fascist/dictator/illegitimate president and criticizing President Trump for “not doing anything” about this fascist dictator in his first term because Trump is a “Putin lacky” vs. statements made by democrats now concerning Maduro and Venezuela by declaring him a victim and criticizing President Trump for taking action to remove him. What has changed other than President Trump being on his way out of his first term vs. President Trump having 3 years left of his present term? Thank God that Al Gore invented the internet as these contradictory statements will live on forever.
What it all boils down to is blind hatred for President Trump and ANYTHING that he does.
He wants to take over Canada. Greenland too. Please turn your brain on.
Where is the military being staged at this point in time? Where is the military movement at this point in time? Where’s the repositioning of the Army ground forces, Air Force, and Navy? Produce the document giving the order. If it is so obvious then you should have no problem producing any of this information.
You don’t have to demonstrate your stupidity. We already know you are.
So… you are saying that Steven Miller’s words and Trump’s own words… are irrelevant? Seriously?
And did I say that they were attacking Greenland NOW? Your comment is quite strange.
Getting Greenland to agree to accept a larger US military presence which would benefit the security of both Greenland and the US? That’s what they are talking about you clueless moron.
“He wants to take over Canada. Greenland too.”
This is your comment, verbatim, in response to a post referring to military action ordered by President Trump in Venezuela. What else would it be about.
Also, please tell us you mental midget, how exactly would Trump “take over” Greenland and Canada without using military force.
Did you miss that wee part where Greenland told them to kiss off?
By the way… I just saw an interview where Stephen Miller tries to avoid answering the question about whether the US might use force to take Greenland. He essentially answered that nobody could even come close to stopping us so it wouldn’t really be a conflict. Creepy, slimy dude.
And we have put these whackos in charge of the greatest military ever assembled. Yikes.
By the way you still haven’t answered the question…big surprise there.
Turn your brain on. Very rich from the guy who’s source of news is CNN.
Let me guess… Infowars?
What does this have to do with Venezuela?