Leave it to an insane, radical group funded by leftist billionaire George Soros to make a narco-terrorist dictator out to be the victim and President Donald Trump out to be the arch-villain.
Public Citizen — whose apparatus (including its affiliated foundation) was pumped with at least $6,096,003, from Soros between 2016-2023 — railed against Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro and expanding U.S. access to Venezuela’s oil reserves in a January 3 statement: “Trump Embraces Big Oil and Empire After Kidnapping Venezuela’s President.”
Yes, the group actually accused Trump of “kidnapping” a murderer who funnels deadly drugs into the U.S. and who lost his reelection bid, effectively staying in power via fiat. But for Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman, Trump liberating the oppressed Venezuelan people constituted a “deadly and unconstitutional regime change war for oil and empire.” Ironically, Public Citizen has an entire page dedicated to “Taking on Trump,” railing that he “represents the powerful, not the people.” Wanna take a guess on which leader Public Citizen considers to be the illegitimate one?
Apparently Weissman never read the War Powers Resolution of 1973 passed by Congress, which stipulates under Section 5(b) summarized by Congress.gov:
[W]hen the President reports an introduction of U.S. Armed Forces into active or imminent hostilities, or such report is required under Section 4(a)(1) but not made, the President must terminate such use of U.S. Armed Forces after 60 days unless Congress (1) has declared war or specifically authorized the action, (2) has extended the 60-day period by law, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack on the United States.
The purpose of the resolution was to check the war powers of the executive branch, yet still gives the president a 60-day window before a congressional war declaration is required. In addition, the resolution requires the president “to notify the Speaker and President Pro Tempore within 48 hours after U.S. Armed Forces are introduced ‘into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.’” Although the resolution says in Section 3 that the president should consult with Congress before introducing Armed forces into hostilities “in every possible instance,” there is plenty of room for nuance. The specific stipulations of the act, however, have not been violated.
Has 60 days passed since the January 3 deposal yet, Weisman? But with self-righteous indignation, Weissman pontificated that “There is no Congressional declaration of war nor authorization for the use of force in Venezuela, making Trump’s actions transparently unconstitutional and illegal.” Nope, that's not what the resolution says.
Weissman even went as far as to obfuscate the Maduro regime’s role in drug trafficking, claiming that Trump made “fantastical claims that a Venezuelan-led drug trade had led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. In fact, Venezuela has no role in the fentanyl trade.”
But as Argentinian news outlet Infobae pointed out November 7, 2023, leaked documents revealed that the Maduro regime “made drug trafficking its main source of funding.” The investigation, led by the Miami Herald in conjunction with Venezuelan news portal Armando Info and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), “revealed a complex drug trafficking network involving high-ranking members of the Venezuelan regime and members of the country's Armed Forces.”
In essence, Weissman was being deceptive straight through his teeth. But what more can you expect from one of Soros’s flunkies:
There’s no way to know what unfolds now in Venezuela, but there is certainly a risk of widespread and persistent chaos, violence, death and instability, which may well involve the risk of American lives along with countless Venezuelans.
Maybe Weisman should pay more attention to the “countless Venezuelans” who are celebrating around the world now that the boot of one of the most brutal dictatorships in Latin America might finally be off their necks.
