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Committee member calls Trump’s Venezuela raid unlawful and corrupt, cites casualties and costs
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Summary
A House Judiciary committee member told the panel the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela lacked legal basis, resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, cost at least $3 billion and appeared aimed at controlling oil for political donors rather than stopping fentanyl, citing the DEA assessment.
A member of the House Judiciary committee criticized a recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela as unlawful, corrupt and costly, telling the panel: "There is no legal basis for the United States government to invade a sovereign country and kidnap its leader." The lawmaker said the operation killed "at least 40 civilians" and a total of "83 persons."
The committee member said the intervention was not about stopping fentanyl, citing the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Drug Threat Assessment and arguing that "Venezuela has little to no role in smuggling illicit fentanyl into The United States." The lawmaker also accused the administration of consulting oil company executives rather than Congress before the action and said the first sale of Venezuelan oil reserves went to a company linked to a $6,000,000 campaign donor.
The speaker criticized a presidential pardon of former Honduran president Juan Hernandez, described in the remarks as convicted of trafficking more than 400 tons of cocaine in a U.S. court, and contrasted that case with how Venezuela was treated. The lawmaker asserted prosecutions for drug trafficking have fallen and suggested enforcement capacity has been reduced.
On costs, the member said the operation to capture Maduro "cost taxpayers at least $3,000,000,000" and added that maintaining seized oil tankers is running into "hundreds of millions" more. The speaker also said the operation had led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members.
Many of the statements were presented as assertions; the hearing transcript records the lawmaker making claims and citing assessments but does not record official responses or documentary evidence introduced during this sequence. The member closed by arguing that "meeting illegality with further illegality does not necessarily make it a right" and yielded the floor.
The remarks were part of oral statements during a House Judiciary committee session; no formal motions or votes on the substance were recorded in the provided transcript.
