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This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human. This is America's Voice live. And welcome to America's Voice Live. I'm Steve Guerrilla, the pulse of the people. We need somebody that's going to hear the people's voice, the truth the mainstream won't touch. This guy is by definition a globalist. And the stories that matter, rav's own Ben Burb, right up over this hill cartel. I see him.
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I see him.
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I see him.
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Live.
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Breaking news right now here on America's Voice.
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Filtered.
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These people are domestic terrorists and unapologetic. We're here to take a stand for God and country. Let's feel good. America's Voice Live starts now. Welcome to America's Voice Live. I'm Steve Gur. It is Monday the 5th of January, the year of our Lord 2026. Now, thank you for joining me Here on Real America's Voice. We have a packed show for you to kick off the year, reporting on the capture of Venezuelan dictator and narco terrorist Nicolas Maduro, as well as Tim Walls, the governor of Minnesota, announcing he's dropping out of the race for reelection in Minnesota amid that massive Somali fraud scandal. All that and more coming your way today. But of course, first we start with the biggest story of the new year. President Trump's bold move on Venezuela over the weekend. Venezuela's narco dictator, Nicolas Maduro, just the latest person to find out that President Trump follows through on his promises. When Trump says it, he means it. The US Military conducted a stunning operation in Caracas, Venezuela, early Saturday morning that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, who are now being held in New York where Maduro is facing drug trafficking charges. He was arraigned earlier today. Tensions between the US And Maduro have been building for months as Trump threatened Maduro to crack down on drug trafficking or else. And over the weekend, Trump made good on those promises. As Vice President J.D. vance has pointed out, Maduro was given several off ramps for an escalation like this. He could have cooperated, but Trump has been crystal clear throughout the entire process. Maduro's actions have consequences, real ones, not just the freezing of some assets here and there. Listen to Secretary Marco Rubio lay it on the line.
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Nicolas Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this. He was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers and chose instead to act like a wild man. Chose instead to play around. And the result is what we saw tonight. The other message here is the have a guy, like many people around the world, they like to play games. You have a guy who Decides he's going to invite Iran into his country, is going to, you know, do the confiscation of American oil companies, is going to flood our country with gang members, is going to take Americans prisoner and try to hold them for hostage and trade him like he was able to do with the Biden administration. Basically likes to play games all this time and thinks nothing's going to happen. And I hope what people now understand is we have a president. The 47th president of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you that he's going to do something, when he's tells you he's going to address a problem, he means it, he actions it. I can tell you, I've watched this process now for 14, 15 years, been around it, everybody talks. I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that. When I get there, we're going to do this, we're going to take. This is a president of action. Like, I don't understand yet how they haven't figured this out. And now if you don't know, now you know.
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Now you know. Simple as that. Not only is Trump a man of action, he's a man of effective action. It was remarkable to watch, wasn't it? During the administrations of Presidents Bush and Obama, the US invested trillions of dollars, deployed more than 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, suffered more than 2,400American lives lost in battles against the Taliban, or only to later discover that Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan the whole time, among other problems. In contrast, President Trump successfully apprehended Nicolas Maduro through a targeted operation, avoiding a full scale war and reporting at this zero US Casualties. Zero. And not a single piece of American equipment lost either. That according to President Trump and Pete Hegseth.
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Listen, Nicolas Maduro had his chance just like Iran had their chance. Until they didn't. And until he didn't. He effed around and he found out President Trump is deadly serious about stopping the flow of gangs and violence to our country. Deadly serious about stopping the flow of drugs and poison to our people.
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And this is just the latest example of resolve from this White House. Obliterating Iran's nuclear program last year was another effective operation that everyone said couldn't be done. And then when it was, they clutched their pearls and predicted a war that of course, never came. The operation in Venezuela is much bigger than just Venezuela. Maduro had turned his country into a hellhole and a partner in crime with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba to name a few, knocking Maduro off his throne is a blow to all of those countries in a serious way. With the Islamic regime in Iran eventually falls, and it will. Its terrorist leaders cannot run and hide. Now in Venezuela, that's gone. China and Russia have lost their main intelligence operations in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba and the rest also just lost access to cheap Venezuelan oil. Plus all of the Islamic regime's assets, their drone factories, military bases. And now in the hands of the United States military. The party is over. Just hours before we nab Maduro, he was meeting with, get this, the heads of Communist China. And hours later, he was blindfolded and handcuffed and aboard the USS Iwo Jima. This sends a resounding message to the rest of the world. It's clear it does not matter who you're in bed with. We'll still hold you accountable if you commit crimes against our people. Got it? Of course, that's not the message that the Democrats and their friends in the media are broadcasting. Not at all. No, it's not pearl clutching all over again. An embarrassing defense of a totalitarian regime and a ruthless dictator that has committed crimes against humanity. Here's Democrat Representative Becca Balint, who presents herself as a champion for human rights, but is standing up for the murderous dictator Maduro, who consistently violated those rights for millions. Murdered children, imprisoned teenagers, among other atrocities. Listen to this.
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Look, I'm angry on behalf of Americans, on behalf of Congress, and most importantly, on behalf of our service members who were put in harm's way. And this was not necessary. This was not legal. And we saw this coming. This has been the plan the entire time. It was never about narco drug trafficking. This was about oil. This was about minerals. This was about regime change. There is no legal justification for what has happened. I'm outraged that nobody in Congress was briefed, including our leader, Hakeem Jeffries, that the committees of jurisdiction received no briefing. And this is dangerous. Not just because of what this will mean for Venezuela in the region. It matters for our moral standing in the world.
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Yeah. Becca Belind and all of her colleagues who are spewing the same talking points are dead wrong. And either they know it or are lying, or they haven't taken the time to look into the legality of this operation. Legal from every standpoint. This operation follows the precedent set by the US extradition of Panama's unlawful leader 37 years ago. Manuel Noriega. An extradition which was upheld, by the way, by the United States Supreme Court. Noriega was convicted of drug and money laundering offenses. Maduro indicted five years ago for similar crimes. This operation in Venezuela, much like the one against Noriega, was the lawful execution of an outstanding criminal warrant. Maduro, much like Noriega, has never been recognized as the lawful leader of Venezuela by Republicans or Democrats or the eu. Multiple US Presidents, Democrats included, have routinely authorized deadly strikes against specific countries and individuals. Only five times. Five times has Congress ever authorized military action. Five times in 250 years. So please stop embarrassing yourselves. Under President Barack Obama, an American citizen was killed by way the administration's targeted killing program. Obama dropped tens of thousands of bombs on 15 countries. Did he have congressional approval? No. If Obama was permitted to order the death of a US citizen without any formal charges, then President Trump clearly has the legal authority to apprehend a non US citizen facing an active federal indictment, all without needing advance approval from Congress, Period. Full stop. Rubio and Trump both hit the nail on the head when they explained why Congress wasn't notified. Because they cannot be trusted. Here it is.
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Did you notify any members of Congress in advance?
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Marco, do you want to talk about that? Because you were involved? Sure.
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We call members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do Congressional notification on. It was a trigger based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days. So it's just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days. But it's largely a law enforcement function. Remember at the end of the day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice. And the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job. Now, there are broader policy implications here, but it's just not the kind of mission that you can pre notify because it endangers the mission.
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If I can add one thing to that, Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good if they leaked, General. I think it would have been maybe a very different result. But I have to say they knew we were coming at some point. You know, a lot of ships out there, they sort of knew we were coming. But Congress, Congress will leak and we don't want leakage.
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He's exactly right. And as an American citizen, that is exactly what I voted for. How about you? Not only is the operation legal, it's also completely justified. Take a look at this. This is Maduro's men mowing down peaceful protesters in cold blood with military vehicles. That is disgusting. Just driving over them Running through the crowds. This is the kind of government that people like Congresswoman Belint are defending today, along with Chris Van Hollen and other Democrats. They call Trump a dictator while excusing the actions of an actual murderous dictator. Reprehensible. Maduro is a narco terrorist who's followed in the footsteps of Hugo Chavez, erasing the lives of millions of families. More people have fled Venezuela than any other country aside from Syria in the last several decades, one third of its population has fled. One third, many to our country. Hundreds of political opponents have been arrested. Thousands have been killed. For those left who haven't lost their actual lives, they've lost jobs, retirement savings, pensions. It's all gone, stolen by their government. And like I said earlier, Iranian militias, Chinese corporations and Russian intelligence operations freely operate inside that country. At least they did. And Maduro has made sure that Venezuela has become an operating base for all kinds of crimes throughout our region. The very kind of regimes that Democrats accuse the United States of being. They are funding and supporting these foreign powers have looted Venezuela's land, oil, gold and its institutions. It's been a haven for criminal activity and a terror to the good. It's been a direct threat to the western hemisphere for 27 years until today. Here's more from President Trump.
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But the gangs that they sent raped, tortured and murdered American women and children, they were in all of the cities I mentioned. Trend. And they were sent by Maduro to terrorize our people. And now Maduro will never again be able to threaten an American citizen or anybody from Venezuela. There will no longer be threats.
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And Democrats want you to believe today that somehow that's a bad thing. These are the same people who said Lloyd Austin was qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. And what did he give us? You remember how about that botched Afghanistan withdrawal and 13 dead American soldiers. And these are the same people who said Pete Hegseth was unqualified to be Secretary of War. What did he give us? The destruction of an Iranian nuclear program and the capture of Maduro without a single US Casualty. Not one. Pretty impressive. It's cause for celebration. And despite the Democrats best attempts to stifle it, well, Venezuelans are celebrating. Those are the sounds of liberation right there. Mainstream media, they would do better to air these reactions than the reactions of Trump's self described political opponents. People that hate Trump just because he's Trump. Because when you ask Venezuelans if this operation was a good thing, it's a resounding yes. Even in the streets of Florida, here on US Soil, there Are celebrations going on still? I told you about all of those displaced Venezuelans. Many of them ended up in Florida. Many of them now feel that they can return to their families, to their homes, to their country, to the life that was destroyed by Maduro and his regime of terror. It's good news all the way around. Any way you slice it, Maduro was a narco terrorist, a socialist dictator, and anyone who thinks he deserved to stay in power might just well be a socialist, too. So how about you just keep still? Let Venezuelans celebrate. Coming up after the break, I'll continue the discussion on the capture of Maduro along with the announcement earlier today that Tim Walls, the governor of Minnesota, is stepping down amid that massive storm of fraud from the Somali community. Yeah, it put an end to Tim Walls political career. We'll be right back. Well, after months of military pressure off of Venezuela's coast, the Trump administration launched a decisive strike aimed at the heart of the Maduro regime, the dictator himself. U.S. forces operating under the classified mission name Absolute Resolve moved overnight after extensive intelligence gathering and Special Forces rehearsals on Saturday. That's right. President Trump later confirmed the capture, calling it a precise operation to hold a brutal dictator accountable under US Law. Joining to discuss this operation further, army veteran, former congressman, executive director of the American Constitutional Rights Union, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West. Colonel, happy New Year. Nice to see you here. We were just talking about this in the break. It might be the single most impressive military operation of my lifetime. Not a single casualty, not a single piece of equipment lost. They went inside. He lived on a military base. They got in there, they breached, they're on the ground three minutes and they had him in handcuffs and away they went. I mean, this is remarkable by any metric, isn't it?
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H
Yes. It's great to be with you, Steve, and Happy New Year. When you think about what came together, the synchronization, the coordination, the. This was just not a military operation. It was an incredible interagency operation with DEA agents involved. And think about the CIA with the shaping operation of the intelligence that they were able to get, to be able to go into that compound and again, not lose anyone. And to be able to get to Nicolas Maduro before he got to his safe chamber was impeccable. But also one of the things we need to understand is that the so called venerable S300 Russian surface to air missile system completely failed. And this is the second time it also failed during the Iranian air operation. So this all around, everyone should be applauding the professionalism, the lethality and the competence of our United States military, along with those civilian partners that work with.
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Them, you know, has a lack of competence today, Colonel. The Democrats, too many of them, save once again, John Fetterman, who says, this is a great success. But I look at Van Hollen, I look at some of these other senators coming out saying, oh, this is a terrible thing. This is international crime. And so, no, it's not. There was a warrant for his arrest. This was not a revolution. This was not an invasion. This was not a war. This was an extraction, a precision extraction by Delta Force. God bless those guys. Again, it was about as good as it possibly could have been. And yet the Democrats cannot bring themselves, save one or two, to say, you know what? Donald Trump did the right thing. I mean, the Democrats, the same ones, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Chris Murphy, all these guys have been calling for the end of Maduro's regime for years. But when Trump does it, suddenly it's illegal.
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H
No, you're absolutely right. And I think that we don't just have to go back to the operation with Manuel Noriega. And I was a young captain in 1989 when that happened. But you can go back to Thomas Jefferson, when Thomas Jefferson had to confront the Barbary pirates who were going out and was raiding American shipping and enslaving Americans. Thomas Jefferson did one single thing. He sent the United States Marines and they went and abducted the pasha of the Barbary States. And that ended all of the incidents that we had with the Barbary pirates. This sends a clear message that the United States of America is going to focus in this hemisphere. They're going to make sure that they provide the safety and security so that we don't see hundreds of thousands of Americans dying. If you're out there supporting Nicolas Maduro and as an American citizen, some of these senators and members of the House, you're saying that you want to see more Americans die, You want to see more criminal gangs come into this country and terrorize Americans? This is unconscionable. And he was absolutely right in that this is a strike operation. It's a very precise precision operation. And he did not need to go out and tell the members of Congress is a raid operation. And furthermore, do you really want Rashida to leave Ilhan Omar, some of the other people, like Alexandria, Ocasio, Cortez, to know about a complex military operation?
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A
Absolutely not. I mean, absolutely. They can't be trusted, period. You know that if I'm sitting in Tehran, I might be listening for helicopters anytime I'M just throwing that out there. If you're in Tehran, pay attention. I do want to get to another big breaking story of the day.
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H
Columbia, Nicaragua.
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All true. Yeah. Let me shift gears here because a big announcement out of St. Paul, Minnesota, today. Tim Walls, the guy who says I've been cleaning up corruption for years, has been taken down by a massive Somali corruption ring. We've talked about it before, Colonel, but it was enough to end his political career. I thought this guy was pure as the driven snow he told us. So I guess maybe we were mistaken.
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H
Yeah. What an incredible thing. I think that someone in the hierarchy of the leftist Marxist cabal there in the Democrat Party gave Tim Walsh a little call over the weekend because you cannot continue to hide this story even though the leftist media is doing everything possible to do so. And now you get rid of Tim Walsh. And so hopefully this can die down. They can try to mitigate the damage. But without a doubt, Tim Walsh is involved in this. He allowed it to happen. And I would not be surprised if there are some direct ties to go back to Tim Walsh and also Ilhan Omar, who she should also be thinking about stepping down and resigning from Congress.
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Yeah. Well, here's the thing, a last thought on that. Tina Smith already announced she's not running for reelection as a senator from the state of Minnesota. We're told now the leading candidate to replace Walls is Amy Klobuchar, the other senator from Minnesota. This creates a whole host of problems for the Democrats in a formerly solid blue state where, trust me, Democrats, Republicans, like, are fed up with the corruption. Last word to you.
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H
Donald Trump came pretty close to winning Minnesota. And I think that you will see people come out and stand up against this defrauding of the taxpayers there and also the criminal clannish behavior of the Somali community. This is not about being a racist. It's about making sure that you protect American taxpayers and you protect the Minnesota taxpayers and you do what is right by the rule of law.
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There you have it, Congress. Appreciate you being here, Colonel. I was going to call you Congressman. That's also accurate. But thank you for being here, as always. Happy New Year.
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H
My pleasure. Happy New Year, Steve. God bless.
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A
God bless. Right after the break, I'll bring on our own David Zero. He's currently in New York at the courthouse where Maduro made that initial appearance earlier today after being captured by US Forces. So stay tuned. We'll be right back. All right. Well, in New York City, Venezuelan dictator and legendary coterrast Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife appeared in A Manhattan federal courtroom happened a short while ago where they pleaded not guilty to several charges, including kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking. Real America's Voice Border correspondent David Zier joins us now from New York. He was able to get inside the courtroom earlier today. David, thank you for being here. I know it's a bit frigid out there. A few fireworks in the courtroom. Maduro tried to apparently speak on. The judge said, yeah, not today. Let's get to it. Tell us about what happened inside there.
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B
Well, a little fireworks at the end, too. When Medora was leaving, somebody screamed out in the room, you're gonna pay for what you've done. And Medora said, I'm a prisoner of war or something like that. But I was in the arraignment in the overflow room, so I couldn't hear everything that transpired then. But he did go on a speech about how he was a prisoner of war. I think he mentioned something about trying to be treated under Geneva or Vienna. I don't speak that much Spanish. But he was there with his wife alongside Barry Pollock, famous attorney, represented Julian Assange as well. And Hellerstein, who's a Clinton employee appointee who has been very rough on Trump not moving his hush money trial from state to federal court and then blocking his Alien enemies Act of 1798 to deport alleged Trend members back out of the United States. But I think Hellistein was pretty fair in the trial. He's very old, he's about 92 or 93, and he's been on this case since 2011. So this is an ongoing set of indictments. The latest one is a superseding indictment to the original 2011 indictment and then the 2020 indictment of Maduro on narco terrorism. 25 year history cooperating with FARC in Colombia and, you know, flooding the US with drugs between both countries, weapons charges, corruption and violence. But it was interesting because Nicolas Maduro did not ask for bail and he has the right to do that going forward. They also talked about his right to speak with his consulate throughout the proceedings. They're going to meet again March 17. The trial probably won't begin for some time. I think they're in the discovery process after today. They left by convoy a little while ago now. They flew here from the Metropolitan Detention Center. It's a very rough place. It's where Luigi Mangione, Sean Puffy Combs was there. Now he's in Jersey and El Chapo was there as well. But he flew here probably for logistical reasons, for traffic reasons. But then Took a convoy of trucks about an hour and a half ago leaving the courthouse. And they both brought pled not guilty. Celia Flores, his wife. Nicolas Maduro pleading not guilty, saying he's still the president of Venezuela and that he's an innocent man and that he's a good man. And it was very interesting historic day here in lower Manhattan.
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Yeah, I think it's an important point you made there, David, a very important point. The original indictment was 2011 under the Barack Obama administration. An interceding intervening indictment placed in 2020 during the Trump administration. During all the Biden years, nothing happened, although people like Chuck Schumer went after Donald Trump for not taking care of Maduro. So did many other Democrats, Democrats that are today saying, well, you can't do that. That's illegal. Talk about talking out both sides of your mouth. Last word to you, David.
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B
Well, they finally got convictions out of that 2011 indictment. Top General Hugo Armando Caraval Barrios, known as El Pollo, the chief chicken cartos de la sole, got a life, you know, probably will get a life sentence and his sentencing, I think that takes place next week. But he got convicted here and I think that Medoros is going to be brought up on the same charges here. So they're finally making progress on these old indictments and maybe even expanding on the superseding indictments in the Southern District of New York with the prosecutors probably lining up additional ties for for kidnapping, human rights violations. Even the International Criminal Court is going after Maduro on that. So maybe there's some commonality and this case will get some traction. Prosecution has a lot of work to do, though, to prove that conclusive link that he colluded and killed and ordered, you know, with Trende Aragua in concert with them and Sinaloa cartels. Because that I think is at the crux of this case to get the conviction for the prosecution.
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A
Yeah, El Chapo might finally get a neighbor, a friend there in Colorado with a supermax. We'll see what happens. David Zier, live in the Big Apple today. David, thank you for that. All right. Coming up after the break, I'll discuss the charges Nicolas Maduro and his wife are facing specifically along with the legality of holding the proceedings right here on U.S. soil. Look at a legal expert in the program here in just a moment. This is america's VOICE Live. We continue now the extensive coverage of the US Capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Silva Flores. I'm going to draw your attention to the charges President Maduro and his wife face in New York and the legality of holding such proceedings right here in the United States. In Maduro's case, the biggest charge brought forward has to do with using his position as president to run and operate a narco terrorist organization. Collectively, it was the biggest crime hub in the Western hemisphere, potentially, which effectively saw him leverage the position to manufacture and transport drugs along with firearms into other nations. Celia Flores being charged with orchestrating violence in the form of kidnappings and murders. Protect the Maduro drug regime and its profits. The facilitation of bribery and money laundering, which, if true, implicates her in as being an active asset of Maduro's alleged crime ring. Now, both have pleaded not guilty to all charges presented. Join me to discuss senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Zach Smith. Zach, nice to see you today.
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C
Good to see you as well. Thanks for having me on.
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A
All right. First of all, when Manuel Noriega was apprehended in a similar fashion 37 years ago, the Supreme Court weighed in on that and said, yes, that's legal. There is a U.S. indictment. It follows U.S. law. There's no violation of international law or anything else. And yet the Democrats in the last 48 hours have exposed themselves for caring more about a dictator, a murderous dictator who ran a massive drug operation, really an empire. And they're complaining that somehow we should be protecting Maduro non American citizens and allowing China and Russia and Iran and Cuba to flow freely in and out of Venezuela. Give me the legal foundation.
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C
If you go back and listen to what many of these same Democratic politicians were saying during Donald Trump's first administration. They were criticizing President Trump for not moving more aggressively, moving more quickly to remove Maduro and other dictators from power. And now that he has done just that, they're finding different grounds to criticize him and take just the opposite position than they previously took. Now, to your point, you're exactly right. There's ample precedent to support the president and the administration's actions in this case. If you listen to what Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in the immediate aftermath of this successful operation, they made clear that this was primarily a law enforcement operation and that federal law enforcement agents were on the ground with U.S. troops to essentially help effectuate a valid U.S. arrest warrant. And that's exactly what happened. We saw Nicolas Maduro arrested. He's been extradited to the United States and today faced his initial appearance and arraignment in federal court in New York. And at the time, Manuel Noriega was subjected to similar proceedings in the late 1980s, early 1990s. At that time, not only did the courts weigh in, but the Justice Department itself in a Justice Department lawyer at the time named Bill Barr actually opined that such actions are legal and permissible and well within the president's Article 2 authority. And so that's exactly what we saw happen in this case as well.
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A
Now, these charges, because they involve drugs, using your presidential power to run this operation, guns are involved. These are all multipliers for what he is facing. I don't think he has any idea. But what he's facing is finding a cell not too far from El Chapo in Colorado supermax prison. This is a lifetime prison sentence potentially, isn't it?
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C
Yeah. These are very serious charges. There's a 25 page indictment that was unsealed from the Southern District of New York. That's why he's in federal court in New York today for his arraignment. And essentially the charges that have been brought against Nicolas Maduro and five other individuals involve charges related to a narco terrorism conspiracy, as you said, essentially alleging he was the head of a cartel operation using illicit drugs, illicit profits from those drugs, to commit a host of terrible crimes, that he was trafficking cocaine and other illicit drugs into the United States and elsewhere, and that he was also illegally using a number of weapons as well to further his narco terrorism and illegal drug trafficking operations. So if I were Nicolas Maduro, I'd be very concerned right now. These are very serious charges. And as you pointed out, he is facing decades, if not life in prison if convicted on just a few of these charges.
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A
That's right. Just like El Chapo, the last major drug kingpin we brought in, and he wasn't even running a country. Zach Smith, thank you for being here today. Of course.
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C
Thanks for having me on the show.
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A
All right, well, a new year means new financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally listen to me and talk to someone from Birch Gold? Honestly, they're great people. I appreciate their educational approach and their understandings of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher. Silver too, which is why they believe every American should own physical gold. So until January 30th, if you are a first time gold buyer, Birchgold will be offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text America. 98. 98 98. Burt's Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401 into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold and take advantage of a rebate of up to $10,000 when you buy by January 30th. Text America to 98. 98. 98. Claim your eligibility today. Again, text America to 98. 9898 up after the break, I'll bring on Congresswoman and Army veteran Miller Meeks to discuss the logistics of Operation Absolute Resolve and just how the US Military was able to conduct this mission with such surgical precision. Details ahead. As we round out today's coverage of Operation Absolute Resolve, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out again the surgical efficiency and the effectiveness of this operation as a whole. This is complicated. Reports note that the operation took a total of two and a half hours and the operation was also kept airtight. No one even had the slightest idea or foresight in regard to the intended goal, further highlighting the precise coordination and secrecy. Join me to discuss. This is congresswoman for Iowa's 1st congressional district and a retired lieutenant colonel from the United States Army, Marionette Miller Meeks. Colonel, thank you for being here.
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I
Happy to be with you, Steve. Thank you for having me on.
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A
You woke up probably like the rest of us and said what happened? And then you watched it and you look at what was pulled off. Look, when we went and arrested Saddam Hussein, took 175,000 soldiers, several years lost, American lives, no American lives lost, same result. This deposed dictator is let out in handcuffs, put on the USS Iwo Jima and then flown back to New York City and appeared for arraignment today. Tell me about your take as a veteran, as an army veteran, your feelings as you saw this story unfold.
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I
You know, I think most of us knew that President Trump was going to take some action. He had been telegraphing it. He had been working through diplomatic channels and negotiations to have Maduro come in. As you know, almost every nation considered Maduro to be an illegitimate president and to have an illegitimate government, as did President Biden and President Trump. And there was, you know, indictment and charges leveled against him from 2021. And even President Biden had a bounty on his head. So this, to me reminds me of what President Reagan did when he brought the hostages out of Iran. So there was a, you know, really commend President Trump. Our military, our law enforcement and our intelligence, all of those were necessary forces to be able to have the intelligence to go in to make this strike with such precision, it was brilliantly executed with no casualties. And I think it just telegraphs to the world how good our military is, how good our communications and collaboration is. And that when President Trump says he's going to do something, he means he's going to do it. And so really, commendation to our military, law enforcement in a law enforcement exercise, and also our intelligence agencies, they all had to work together. And, you know, it had to be done with secrecy because if you telegraph ahead, they would not have been able to conduct this operation in the manner that they did with no casualties.
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A
Yeah. And you bring up an important point because those on the other side of the aisle are screaming like smashed cats for the last 48 hours because they weren't told in advance. But the truth is they can't be trusted with secrets. They would have leaked it. They would have compromised the mission. They would have put American lives in danger, and they would have been okay with it. That's what's so unsettling to me.
- [36:17]
I
Your thoughts would have put American lives in danger. They would have put Venezuela civilian lives in danger. And there is, there is not a requirement that we have a briefing before Congress to do this type of action. I'm not sure why my colleagues on the other the aisle do not see that President Biden, President Obama, President Clinton all did the same thing. Your earlier guest had brought up Operation Just Cause. When Nora Yaga was extradited, he was indicted, he had grand jury indictments, he was extradited out of Panama. He was found guilty. The Supreme Court ruled on this. So the president, number one, had the constitutional authority to do what he did. This was a law enforcement exercise supported by our intelligence and our military. Number two, he had the legal authority to do what he did, and he did it. And number three, you needed to have that collaboration of multiple different agencies within the US Government to carry this out in a way where no one was harmed. There were not civilian casualties in Venezuela. We got our person and we are bringing him back to justice. We are serving justice for the American people, for mothers who have lost their children to illegal drugs, families that have been torn apart. And don't forget that this Maduro also had American hostages, American military hostages, as well as he was supporting terrorism in the Middle East. So not only was their American safety at risk, but there was also national security implications as well. And I commend the president and our military, law enforcement and intelligence on a brilliantly conducted maneuver which brought people, brought Maduro to justice, to go to trial in the United States with no civilian military casualties. It's amazing that they were able to do this with such precision.
- [38:10]
A
I agree with you. Here's part of the conversation that's not getting as much coverage as it should. It's also a big loss for China, Russia, Iran, Cuba. They've been taking illicit oil out of Venezuela for years, at next to nothing, or flat out free in the case of the Chinese. So when you see American critics saying, well, we're just there for the oil, first of all, we don't need the oil. We've got plenty of oil in the United States. But what we do need is to protect the Western Hemisphere from encroachment from our biggest enemies, that being China and Russia and Iran and Cuba. Without that oil, It's a big setback for those countries, isn't it?
- [38:47]
I
100%. They have robbed Venezuela of its assets. They've impoverished the nation. Maduro was right in concert with them. And it's why President Trump said that we will, quote, unquote, run the country. We're not going to run the country. But he's sending a signal to the cartels, to other South American countries, to Russia and Iran and China, that they better not try to take advantage of this situation because the United States means business. Since I've been in Congress, I have talked extensively about the Monroe Doctrine and the incrosion of communism in Latin America and how serious that is with the inroads that both China and Russia have made. So this is long overdue, this action. I commend, again, commend President Trump for making good on his word. This was both an American safety and security issue. This is justice for American people, but it's necessary for global security as well. And I think what you're going to see now is other countries with communist dictators or authoritarian regimes that you're going to see them look at these actions, and they're going to start thinking differently. I think what you're seeing in Iran is a consequence of what has happened with Maduro being extradited back to the United States.
- [40:05]
A
Well, I agree with you on that. In fact, if you're in Colombia or Nicaragua or Iran, you might want to listen for helicopters, because when Donald Trump says something, he means it. Look, he already went out to the Iranian nuclear facilities and took those out at another remarkable, precise American strike. The people that threaten America, whether it's Tehran and the ayatollah or Colombia, who's also in concert with drug runners and so forth, you have been warned in the most specific way, stop playing around. But my question then becomes, what about Mexico? More drug cartels doing more damage out of Mexico than anywhere else. Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico said, you're not going to come in here with American force of any kind. What are your thoughts on that?
- [40:52]
I
Well, I think that they're going to learn from what just happened in Venezuela, what happened with the extradition of Maduro, who is an illegitimate president and who was indicted on charges and is being brought to justice. And as you know, Representative Dan Crenshaw in Texas had wanted the cartels in Mexico to be labeled as terrorist organizations and wanted to use force. So I think that, you know, those who are in bed with cartels, in bed with mafia like transnational criminal organizations are going to find that they need to separate their government official, government capacity from criminal activity because we are going to do what's in the best interest of the United States. And to me, you know, the first president I voted for as a young lieutenant in the army was Ronald Reagan. And this to me is very similar to what Reagan did in, you know, putting America first and the interest of the United States and making sure that the United States, United States was no longer trampled upon by other nations. And so I think that this is a very positive development. And as I said, the president had both the constitutional and legal authority to do this. It may be challenged in the courts, but I think our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to have egg on their faces because I know the people in Venezuela are happy. I know the Venezuelans who immigrated to the United States for safety. They are delighted as what has happened. We've seen what's happening in Miami, Florida, and in Florida, where there is a large Venezuel Venezuelan community as well as a Cuban community. And this may end up toppling the Cuban regime as well.
- [42:27]
A
Yeah. Without that oil, Cuba's really in trouble. Without that Venezuelan oil, they're in real trouble. There they were. Anyway, this complicates and exacerbates the challenges they're facing. I truly appreciate you being here, Congresswoman. Your insights are important. As a veteran, as a member of the United States Congress, I believe that the Democrats are on the wrong side of history again. Save a couple, including John Fetterman, who once again says we should be celebrating this. Who would have thought, a happy new Year. Thank you for being here.
- [42:57]
I
Thank you so much. And Happy New Year to you and your listeners.
- [43:01]
A
There you have it. Look, doing the right thing, you know, no good deed goes unpunished, I suppose. Now, after the break we're gonna have that story that reminds us of how wonderful America is in this brand new year. Plus, your answers to our America's Voice. Question of the day, why do you think the Democrats are so unhappy about the capture of dictator Nicholas Maduro? Your answers coming up. Well, we're in a new year, as you know, 2026. Remarkable, isn't it? And we're going to continue our theme of what makes America wonderful. We do it every day with the hope of putting a smile on your face at least once a day. Today's story comes to us from Dickinson, Texas, where a selfless and anonymous hero saved a mom and her kid from drowning after a car accident saw them veer off into the bayou. Reports from first responders at the scene detail that the mother struck a curb on a bridge, lost control of the vehicle, resulting in her crossing several lanes of traffic and plunging into the water. That's right. The unprecedented development saw a homeless man who witnessed the crash. He immediately used his canoe to paddle over to the submerged vehicle to save mom and her baby, resulting in a hopeful outcome rather than a tragic one. Speaking of hopeful outcomes, the mother and child are recovering at the University of Texas Medical Branch in League, Texas. Stepping up in moments of need is an action that is not practiced by many. And to remain anonymous on top of that is even more rare. Stories like these remind us what makes America wonderful. Silent heroes stepping up and saying, you know what, I got this. All right, your question of the day. And remember, all you have to do is follow me on social media, all the usual places, X and getter and Facebook and so forth. You can get the question of the day and you can participate. There's a New Year's resolution for you. Get on America's Voice live with my answer. Why do you think the Democrats are unhappy about the capture of Nicolas Maduro Roper? M writes because their drugs are drying up. Well, maybe. Rope. I don't know. Yeah, man, prices are sure going up. Talk about inflation. VERN glass Only Democrats are because they were receiving kickbacks. Well, you wonder how deep that fraud and that grift goes, don't you? JUAN aguiar because they were getting money from the narco socialist dictatorship. It is the hub of criminal activity in the Western hemisphere. It truly is. Whether it's China, Russia or Iran. The drug cartel is all of it. LARRY wilcox, it's always about the money. They're losing more and more money laundering opportunities. Yeah, you need to get that money into those campaign coffers somehow. SCOTT Gifford writes this for us simply because it was the Trump administration that did it. That's what I agree with Scott. I mean, the same people like Chuck Schumer who are ripping Donald Trump, who are ripping Donald Trump because he didn't go out for Maduro, are now ripping Donald Trump because he did. Strange world we live in. Don Kirk writes, Democrats are against everything Trump does. So true, Don. Which goes to the point that I just made. Dennis Paul shares this with us. One more place that they can't collect or steal money. Oh, so true. Anthony Vasquez, Payoffs and election fraud. Yeah, there was a lot of election fraud in Venezuela. And even the Democrats called him an illegitimate dictator until Trump went and got him. Michael Gusti cuts into their laundered pocket money. So many people just think the Democrats are dirty. Angel Woodham. They hate Trump. He's draining the swamp. Well, 2026 off to kind of a quiet start, isn't it? Not much to talk about, not much big news. But wow, here we go into 2026, the midterm elections. Will the state of Minnesota have two open Senate seats? That's a big question going forward, will Amy Klobuchar give up her Senate seat to run for governor now that Tim Walls has dropped out of the race? Maybe. Whatever happens through 2026, we're going to be here to cover it for you every step of the way. Thank you for being here in 2025 and thank you for being here today. God bless America. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.