NewNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro “wasn’t just about drugs,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday in her first interview about the military operation on “Hannity.”
Maduro and other defendants could also face charges elsewhere, Bondi said.
“Nothing is off discussion,” Bondy told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “These people should remain behind bars. They are responsible for the loss of so many lives, and these are not street-level drug dealers. They are narco-traffickers.”
On Monday, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty In federal court for narco-terrorism and other charges.
Rubio defends Venezuela operation after NBC questions on lack of congressional approval to capture Maduro
The Justice Department says Maduro “provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro greets his supporters during a rally in Caracas on December 1, 2025. (Pedro Matti/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A man who had a brief conversation with Maduro in a Manhattan court called Fox News a dictator declared himself a “prisoner of war” And compared himself to Jesus.
Maduro told the court, “I am innocent, I am not guilty.” “I’m a decent man. I’m still the president of my country.”
UN Ambassador Waltz defends US occupation of Maduro ahead of Security Council meeting
some democrats have criticized the military action Called it a violation of state sovereignty and compared it to former President George W. Bush’s actions in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Bondy insisted that “Operation Absolute Resolve” was “well in the cards” for the president. donald trumpConstitutional rights in response to critics.
The men, believed to be carrying Maduro and his wife, were evacuated from the plane under cover of darkness following Operation Absolute Resolve. (to do)
“This was a law enforcement operation to arrest guilty persons in Venezuela,” Bondi explained. “Our forces executed it flawlessly, flawlessly.”
Marco Rubio’s heated argument with George Stephanopoulos over Venezuelan leadership
He stressed that Saturday’s covert operation “saved countless lives.”
“The President saved thousands, countless lives tonight,” Bondi said. “But they also saved Americans from TDA [Tren de Aragua] “The members that Maduro allowed to come into our country were forced to come into our country.”
Captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, appear at their arraignment in a federal court in New York City, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, with their lawyers Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly. (Jane Rosenberg)
The attorney general listed several murder victims of Venezuelan gang members, including 22-year-old Laken Riley and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungare.
“This is horrific and it has to stop,” she vowed.
Click here to download Fox News App
While Trump has said The US will temporarily “run” Venezuela.Maduro’s allies in the government have disputed the claim.
The Venezuelan dictator and his wife will appear in court again on March 17.
