All posts tagged "Nicolas Maduro"

A leading political scientist revealed a chilling prediction Thursday suggesting that the Trump Department of Justice was close to reaching a deal with captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Norman Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and contributing editor for The Atlantic, said that the deal was inching closer to completion and suggested that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would work out a deal with Maduro and his wife over an unsubstantiated claim that Venezuela interfered in the 2020 American presidential election — something President Donald Trump has long complained was "rigged."

"Something I predicted multiple times is about to come true," Ornstein wrote on X. "Blanche is going to cut a deal with Maduro to have him falsely claim that Venezuela tilted the 2020 elections. In return, he and his wife are likely to be in the same prison as Ghislaine Maxwell."...

A GOP congresswoman wants to pardon the U.S. special forces soldier who was arrested after winning $400,000 by betting on the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"Maybe not a popular take but I am calling for this guy to be pardoned," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) posted Thursday on X.

Earlier in the day, a Manhattan federal court unsealed an indictment of Gannon Ken van Dyke, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army who bet $30,000 on the online prediction market Polymarket that Maduro would be out of power by the end of January. The U.S. military launched a raid and extradited him in early January. ...

A soldier for U.S. special forces has been arrested for winning a $400,000 bet that former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would be out of power by January.

CNN reported on Thursday that the soldier opened an account on Polymarket, which allows people to make bets on nearly anything, and placed a $32,000 bet on Maduro's capture. Law enforcement noticed the long-shot bet right away, according to CNN.

U.S. military forces covertly raided Maduro's presidential palace in early January, leading to his extradition to New York on drug charges that he denies. Unknown gamblers have been creating accounts on prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi and winning big ahead of events like U.S. strikes in Iran. ...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified Tuesday in a federal criminal case involving his once-roommate and friend, former Rep. David Rivera, saying during cross-examination that he did not know about Rivera's alleged crimes, CBS News reported.

Rivera has been accused of secretly lobbying for the Venezuelan government.

Rubio and Rivera had a close relationship in the past. Both are Cuban American immigrants from Miami, and Rivera was with Rubio when he picked out his wife's engagement ring. Rivera stood by Rubio's side as he pushed his political career forward while they both pursued their political ambitions in the Florida House of Representatives. ...

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) was among several lawmakers grilling Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the US attacks on Venezuela.

Kaine called out Rubio and the Trump administration for not seeking congressional approval or consulting lawmakers in the five months since initiating strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, sending troops into the conflict and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"We started this operation on September 2nd with the attack on Venezuelans and boats in open waters, and now we are nearly five months in. Next week is five months. Finally, a public hearing! Wow! How novel," Kaine said. "Finally, a public hearing in the Senate or House. This is the first public hearing we've had. Two hundred folks who are on secret designated combatant lists have been killed, U.S. troops have been injured, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, an armada amassed the announcement of a new Monroe Doctrine, which does not land well in the Americas. Democrats have been asking over and over again, can we have a public hearing? Can we share what we know with the American public? Finally, a public hearing. But even that hearing is constrained."...

A new poll shows that President Donald Trump's approval rating on his handling of foreign policy has dipped to its lowest since he returned to the White House, according to reports Friday.

A new Marist poll found that only 37% of adults in the United States approve of how Trump has handled foreign policy, Newsweek reported. The results were gathered from January 12 to 13 and showed that 56% of those polled disapproved of Trump's international actions, while 7% were unsure.

The changes in Trump's international policy approval highlighted how Americans have responded to the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and the military incursion of that country, and Trump's continued threats to seize Greenland — signaling a major challenge for the Trump administration and growing concern among voters. Trump's moves could put the Republican Party in a tough spot ahead of the midterms in November. ...