The capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was “not just about drugs,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in her first interview about the military operation on “Hannity” Monday.
Maduro and other defendants could be charged in other places, Bondi said.
“Nothing is off the table,” Bondi told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “These people need to stay behind bars. They are responsible for the loss of so many lives, and these are not street-level drug dealers. They are drug traffickers.”
On Monday, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism and other charges in federal court.
RUBIO DEFENDS VENEZUELA OPERATION AFTER NBC QUESTIONS LACK OF CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL FOR CAPTURE OF MADURO
The Justice Department says Maduro “issued Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela.
A man who had a brief conversation with Maduro in a Manhattan courthouse, the dictator told Fox News declared himself a “prisoner of war” and compared himself to Jesus.
“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” Maduro told the court. “I’m a decent man. I’m still president of my country.”
UN Ambassador Waltz defends US capture of Maduro before Security Council meeting
Some Democrats have done so criticism of the military operation as a violation of state sovereignty, compared to former President George W. Bush’s actions in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Bondi insisted that “Operation Absolute Resolve” was “well within” the president’s control Donald Trump‘s constitutional authority in response to critics.
Persons escorted from the plane, believed to be with Maduro, wife after Operation Absolute Resolve under cover of darkness. (Doing)
“It was a law enforcement function to arrest indicted persons in Venezuela,” Bondi explained. “Our military executed that flawlessly and flawlessly.”
MARCO RUBIO CASHES WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS OVER VENEZUELA LEADERSHIP IN HEATED EXCHANGE
She further emphasized that Saturday’s covert operation “saved countless lives.”
“The president saved thousands, countless lives tonight,” Bondi said. ‘But he also protected the Americans against the TDA [Tren de Aragua] members who allowed Maduro into our country and invaded our country.”
Imprisoned Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will appear in federal court in New York City along with their attorneys Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Jane Rosenberg)
The attorney general listed several murder victims of Venezuelan gang members, including 22-year-old Laken Riley and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.
“It’s terrible and it will stop,” she promised.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
While Trump has said that the US will temporarily ‘rule’ VenezuelaMaduro’s allies in the government have disputed the claim.
The Venezuelan dictator and his wife will appear in court again on March 17.
#Bondi #Trump #saved #countless #lives #arrest #Venezuelan #dictator #Maduro