Rep. Jim Himes, the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, stated that the attempt to capture Maduro is “clearly illegal under international law,” while highlighting wider implications.
“Think about what Russia and China just learned,” Himes remarked on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “Russia and China just realized that all you need to do if you want to invade Estonia is to claim that the leader of Estonia is a bad person. You don’t even have to make a very strong argument.”
Himes noted, “there’s no national security expert saying that Venezuela was a mortal threat to the United States three weeks ago.”
“So what China and Russia just picked up is that the beacon of liberty and rule of law in the world has now approved abduction operations in Estonia, in Taiwan, wherever Xi and Putin decide they want to go next.”
The Connecticut Democrat added that it’s also “clearly not legal under the Constitution, because although presidents from both parties have argued against this, the Constitution is quite clear that representatives of the people should be consulted and ultimately approve military actions.”
“That has not happened here at all,” Himes pointed out.
Himes mentioned he was “delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been in regular contact with the administration,” stating he’s had “zero outreach” himself and isn’t aware of any other Democrats who have been contacted either.
“So apparently, we’re now in a situation where keeping Congress informed legally only applies to your party, which is quite something,” he added.
Himes highlighted reactions from Republican lawmakers and other officials so far, saying “we’re experiencing a euphoric phase where there’s widespread acknowledgment that Maduro was a bad guy and our military is truly amazing.”
“This feels exactly like the euphoria we felt in 2002 when our military took down the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Himes said. “In 2003 when our military removed Saddam Hussein, and in 2011 when we helped oust Muammar Qaddafi from power in Libya.”
Himes concluded by saying “what we learned right after this euphoric phase is it’s much easier to dismantle a country than it is to actually follow through on what the president promised to do, which is manage it.”
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