US House Democratic leader says Trump administration has not justified Venezuela operation

WASHINGTON

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that the Trump administration has failed to provide evidence justifying its recent military operation in Venezuela that captured the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

“There’s been no evidence that the administration has presented to justify the actions that were taken in terms of there being an imminent threat to the health, the safety, the well-being, the national security of the American people,” Jeffries told NBC News.

His remarks came after President Donald Trump said US military action on Saturday had resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, also pledging to assert American control over the country for the time being, with US troops if necessary.

The pair landed in New York late Saturday and are being held at a detention center in Brooklyn. They face US federal charges tied to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations.

Jeffries rejected the administration’s characterization of the operation as a counternarcotics effort, calling it instead a military escalation.

“This was not simply a counternarcotics operation. It was an act of war," he said.

Several US Democratic lawmakers on Saturday slammed the Trump administration over launching military action without congressional authorization, calling it "illegal."