Maduro indicted on federal drug-trafficking
and weapons charges
Posted By: JoElla Bee, 1/3/2026 10:29:55 PM
Washington — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from what prosecutors said was his role in a scheme to import "thousands of tons" of cocaine into the United States and enrich himself, his family and senior members of the Venezuelan government.[Snip] The case against them was brought in the Southern District of New York, where Maduro and 14 others were first indicted in March 2020, during the first Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein is overseeing the case.
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JoElla Bee"
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, who was sworn in on Saturday, is not the country’s legitimate leader, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. Rubio spoke with Rodriguez — the country’s vice president — after the US conducted a daring military operation to capture the former Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. However, he suggested the US will not support her staying in power. He called for elections to determine the next leader of the beleaguered South American country.
President Trump and other top officials were caught watching the Venezuelan raid in real-time. Obama watching the bin Laden raid in the Situation Room was a similar moment and photo op. But someone was missing in the Trump photos: Vice President JD Vance. Where was he?[snip] Vance was kept away because the administration was becoming uneasy about having both men in the exact location, given the security conditions. It was a designated survivor scenario. Vance was involved with the raid:
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has stepped in to offer free broadband access across Venezuela until February 3, 2026, aiming to maintain vital connectivity for citizens amid unprecedented political chaos triggered by a US military strike that captured former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The announcement, which was posted on X by Starlink, stated, “Starlink is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, ensuring continued connectivity.” Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, reposted the message with strong endorsement: “In support of the people of Venezuela.”
As the U.S. military carried out a daring operation to capture Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, a second front opened up within minutes in the United States an information warfare, psychological and propaganda operation run by a hardened cell of self-described Marxist, socialist and communist leaders.[snip] A Fox News Digital analysis of their minute-by-minute moves overnight reveals how this network activated a coordinated ideological and information warfare campaign, moving through digital social media channels with quickly produced posters to mobilize foot soldiers to the streets for an "EMERGENCY DAY OF ACTION" …
The Trump critics are out again, criticizing Trump’s use of the military in Venezuela to depose Nicolás Maduro. The critics cite Congress’s power to declare war under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution as proof that Trump acted “illegally” and “unconstitutionally.” The critics are wrong and are misreading the Constitution.[snip] The president gets to act first, and he can act unilaterally, as Trump did. Or he can ask Congress for a declaration of war or an authorization to use force, as FDR and Bush 43 did. But the final say belongs to the people in the form of how their elected representatives judge the president’s action after the fact.
Washington — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from what prosecutors said was his role in a scheme to import "thousands of tons" of cocaine into the United States and enrich himself, his family and senior members of the Venezuelan government.[Snip] The case against them was brought in the Southern District of New York, where Maduro and 14 others were first indicted in March 2020, during the first Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein is overseeing the case.
The woke left and woke right are coming out in force to defend Nicholas Maduro and to attack Donald Trump for his operation to arrest him and bring him to the United States. [snip] On the left, everybody from the hard communists to the soft communists is angry, as are Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, of course. All are united by the belief that the United States is in the wrong no matter what.[X Video Post] here’s tucker carlson defending communist dictator nicolas maduro because he’s allegedly “socially conservative.”
The United States carried out strikes in Venezuela today and arrested Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The U.S. launched a "large scale" strike against the South American nation, including on military facilities. The move came after months of build up in the region. In recent weeks, the U.S. had seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela and conducted kinetic strikes on narco-terrorist vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific. Both Maduro and his wife were indicted in the Southern District of New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared news of the indictment on X, and here's what that indictment entails:
When JD Vance stood before a roaring crowd and declared, “We have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation,” the reaction was immediate and electric. The crowd did not politely applaud. They erupted. That matters. In a political era where most leaders hedge, qualify, and sanitize every sentence, Vance chose clarity. He chose history. He chose conviction. And in doing so, he reminded millions of Americans of something they have been told to forget.[snip] For decades now, the political and cultural elite have worked overtime to convince the country that faith is a private hobby at best, and a public nuisance at worst.
Anti-Religion Group Comes for Sarah Huckabee
Sanders Over Christmas, but She's Not
Having It 11 replies
Sanders Over Christmas, but She's Not
Having It 11 replies
Dr. Seuss made it famous with his timeless story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, but in today’s America, the story is more often, “The Leftist Who Desperately Wanted to Ruin Christmas.” We see it constantly — woke Karens who want to take down manger displays, town councils that ban nativity scenes, triggered scolds who want to rip the Christ out of Christmas. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for one, isn’t having it. After some silly leftist group demanded that she rescind her order making December 26 a day off for government employees, arguing that it violated the separation of church and state concept, Sanders effectively said…
Ex-FBI agent says Bondi has ‘slam dunk’conspiracy
case against Obama's feds for election meddling 17 replies
case against Obama's feds for election meddling 17 replies
A retired FBI agent who assembled major crime cases for years says Attorney General Pam Bondi has a “slam dunk” conspiracy case to prosecute former federal agents and prosecutors for election meddling for relentlessly pursuing Donald Trump for political purposes while protecting prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton in the face of damning evidence. Jonathan Gilliam, a retired FBI agent and Navy SEAL, told the Just the News, No Noise television show that Trump should name a “Justice Czar” to coordinate both prosecutions and policy fixes after documents turned over to Congress by Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel…
Hot Takes: Dems Melt Down Over Kennedy
Center Name Change - Ric Grenell Levels
Them With Reality 11 replies
Center Name Change - Ric Grenell Levels
Them With Reality 11 replies
As we reported, the board of the Kennedy Center voted to add President Donald Trump's name to the Center after the efforts he made to help restore the renowned arts venue. [snip] But it's a bit like the craziness over the White House ballroom. Trump gets a ballroom for free that the nation can use forever, and Democrats attack. Adding Trump's name is their current excuse for melting down, and folks on the right are enjoying tantrums. The hot takes on the left were something to see, starting with this guy who said he was a resident of Washington, D.C., but thinks "democracy died today" because of this.
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VP Vance’s Splinter Problem
34 replies
At one time in my life, I was an operating-room nurse, both participating in and witnessing the things that just about every person on earth can’t stand to think about.
So, I can say with some authority that splinters in particularly sensitive areas of the body––often the kind that happen when sitting on a fence––can cause significant discomfort. And removing them requires a recovery period that involves quite a bit of post-op pain.
Metaphorically speaking, VP JD Vance has been sitting for quite a while on a splintery fence, trying to camouflage his dislike of Jews and Israel with fancified language, while at the same time,
Women's tennis legend Martina Navratilova took to social media on Saturday to share her thoughts on the U.S. intervention in Venezuela, supporting the idea of criminal sanctions on American companies that try to take oil from the country. Navratilova praised a post on X suggesting the sanctions, writing "love it" in response to journalist Lauren Windsor's post that read, "Any American oil company that expropriates oil from Venezuela should be sanctioned by the International Criminal Court."
Former President Joe Biden’s long career in politics allowed him to retire with the largest taxpayer-funded pension of any ex-prez in US history — $417,000, or more than his presidential salary, an expert says.
Biden, 83, was in line to rake in the massive amount from two pension funds in his first year as former president, according to an analysis by National Taxpayer Union Foundation Vice President Demian Brady.
“It’s pretty unusual, historically unusual, to have such a large pension amount,” Brady told The Post.
“I would have to say that it’s the largest,” the taxpayer advocate said when asked to compare Biden’s pension to his predecessors.
Kids are arriving on college campuses with fewer skills and diminished attention spans. But, rather than challenge students, many colleges are lowering institutional standards to accommodate them.
Colleges around the country have English courses that require students to read a single book all semester. Ivy League schools are rolling out remedial math classes. And some schools are teaching kids skills as basic as structuring sentences.
Colleges surely have a challenge on their hands as high schools graduate less distinguished classes, but lowering the bar is the sort of coddling that keeps kids from reaching their potential. College is meant to stretch you to your intellectual max. It’s not a time for hand-holding.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday evening condemned the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, calling the operation both “unlawful” and “unwise.”
In a lengthy post on X, Harris acknowledged that Maduro is a “brutal” and “illegitimate” dictator but said that President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela “do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable.”
President Jimmy Carter’s Personal Belongings
Head To Auction Ahead Of America’s 250th Anniversary 20 replies
Head To Auction Ahead Of America’s 250th Anniversary 20 replies
Personal belongings that once sat quietly in the Georgia home of President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter are headed to the auction block as part of a sweeping Christie’s sale marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Christie’s announced that items from the private collection of the former President and First Lady will be offered in January as part of two major Americana auctions tied to the upcoming semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence. The sale includes historically significant documents and artworks, as well as intimate objects meant to reflect the Carters’ personal lives and decades-long marriage.
Socialists of a feather flock together.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s comrades in the Democratic Socialists of America want deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro returned to power.
The Democratic Socialists of America put out a lengthy statement demanding “the return of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores to Venezuela.” Meanwhile, the DSA is starting a “join our “Hands Off Venezuela” to get the “imperialist” United States out of the socialist, oil-rich country.
“Solidarity with the people of Venezuela! Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution!”, separate DSA International Committee policy statement says.
In its statement on the removal of Maduro, the DSA claims the Trump administration has started “an illegal war” against Venezuela
A large part of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s security team was killed during Saturday’s US operation, the country’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said Sunday, Anadolu reports.
In a televised speech, Padrino accused the US military personnel who carried out operation of “cold-bloodedly murdering a large part of (Maduro’s) security team, soldiers, and innocent citizens.”
He did not give further details about the number of victims.
Padrino also called Maduro the country’s “authentic and legitimate leader.”
His remarks came a day after President Donald Trump said US military action on Saturday resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, pledging to assert American control
It is no secret that the Democrats, and many Republicans!, aggressively blocked President Trump’s desire to protect the American people and build a border wall on the southern border with Mexico during his first term. Democrat attempts to block the wall in spite of significant evidence that it was obviously needed indicated there was an unknown reason for their defiance.
In May of 2016, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited the President of Mexico along with other Congressmen, including little known Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke. Pelosi stated about the meetings – It is not clear what the discussions all entailed but after this visit, the Mexican President
What a Way to Start 2026
16 replies
Christmas week was rather a slow week, with the big news being the further unraveling of the corruption in Minnesota, Washington state, California, and other Democrat redoubts. But like George Washington crossing the Delaware to beat the Hessians as they rested on Christmas, the U.S. pulled off an incredible military operation capturing Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro in his pajamas and bringing him back here to answer to criminal charges. The Venezuelan military was largely on Christmas leave and Maduro’s international protectors --- the Chinese and Russian forces in Venezuela -- were caught flatfooted, diminishing their credibility in the Western Hemisphere. The impact of this operation was enormous.
A Brooklyn Park man has pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to theft by false representation for defrauding the Medicaid program of nearly $200,000 while working at a Minneapolis physical therapy business. However, the plea deal calls for no prison time and grants him over 160 years to pay restitution. (snip) The plea agreement calls for a stay-of-imposition of the felony sentence, meaning no prison time, and the conviction level will drop to a misdemeanor upon successful completion of five years' probation.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is fundraising in protest of the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s illegitimate socialist dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“Another day, another unconstitutional war from Trump, who thinks the Constitution is a suggestion,” an email from the DNC reads, per Town Hall. “Congress has war powers — but Republican cowards are hiding under their desks while Trump orders an unauthorized attack against Venezuela. Trump promised peace, but has delivered chaos.”
“The most important thing we can do is elect more Democrats who will check this administration’s power,” the email continues.
Comments:
* and Melissa Quinn — U. S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein was born in 1933, so 92 or 93 years old. Appointed by Clinton in May of 1998. Has ruled against Trump in recent past regarding removing Venezuelans from U.S. under Alien Enemies Act.