Arkansas senator on Maduro operation, potential CIA involvement and more
WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA) - Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the strike against Venezuela and President Nicolas Maduro's arrest.
President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in New York Saturday evening after being indicted in the state, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The arrest comes after the U.S. launched a strike against Venezuela, reportedly approved by President Donald Trump.
When asked if the U.S. still assess that the regime in Venezuela is made up of narco-terrorists with ties to Iran, Russia, China and Cuba, Sen. Cotton, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said:
"First off, let me commend not only our military; as President Trump said this was an excellent operation, only the United States military could have pulled it off, but they couldn't have pulled it off without the support of the professionals in the intelligence community, especially at the Central Intelligence Agency, and I'm glad that we have a director, John Ratcliffe, that has restored confidence in the CIA and the president has...I think the President respects the CIA as much as he ever has. It's a great day, not just for our military, for our CIA. There's no question that the people in Venezuela who are still in charge of the apparatus of the government are sanctioned and indicted officials, and they've been in league with Nicolas Maduro until just yesterday. I think President Trump wants to give them a chance to turn a new page. Now, that's happened in the past. If you look at what's happened in Syria, as you know, Ahmed al-Sharaa, used to be an Islamic terrorist. He's now effectively a pro-American leader of Syria. Muammar Gaddafi, the same way, had much blood on his hands after the Iraq War, he turned over a new page and came out of the cold. Now, the difference in those two cases is they made concrete concessions to the United States and our policy goals and interests, or they had a longer history of turning the corner like Ahmed al-Sharaa has...We've to make sure that the people who are now in charge of the apparatus of the Venezuelan government are not going to continue Nicolas Maduro's ways, and I think that's what the President made clear yesterday."
During the interview, Brennan and Cotton talked about the CIA potentially being involved in the operation, with CBS News reporting that a CIA source inside the country helped the U.S. in locating Maduro.
According to Brennan, President Trump said the U.S. should not pay out a $50 million bounty on President Maduro's head, prompting Brennan to ask if the CIA source inside Venezuela is still working for the U.S., to which the senator said:
"I have no comment on CIA sources or methods in Venezuela or elsewhere...I'll simply say that the CIA's amazing work here, that has instilled such confidence in the president, is a reminder not just to Nicolas Maduro's cronies in Venezuela, but other bad guys all around the world, that we have very good insights into what they're doing and what they're up to."
Later in the interview, Brennan and Cotton talked about Trump saying additional attacks in Venezuela have been planned, leading her to ask Cotton what would necessitate it and what would he support, and Cotton said:
"What I took the president to mean is that what we just did with Nicholas Maduro could be done again to other Venezuelan leaders. Several of them are indicted in US courts. They're sanctioned by the United States and Canada and European Union and other nations. And if they continue down the path that Maduro took, the took the nation of Venezuela, then we could conduct the same kind of operation as him. I took that as the president, urging them to change their ways or face the same consequences."
Brennan followed up by asking Cotton if he would support a stabilization force, meaning U.S. boots on the ground, as the president said he wouldn't rule out, and Cotton said:
"We already had boots on the ground, as Nicolas Maduro learned the hard way, it's always the president's option to use the American military to protect American citizens and interests. And obviously, we have many American citizens inside of Venezuela, and we have many interests and property as well."
Following this, Brennan and Cotton talked about drug trafficking in the country, with DEA Administrator Terry Cole saying cocaine prices have gone up nearly 45%.
This led Brennan to ask the senator if he thinks this has ended the drug problem, and Cotton said:
"Venezuela is unique in Latin America, though, because the Maduro regime is itself in league with the drug trafficking cartels. It doesn't just tolerate them, or it doesn't just fail to control its territory. It is in league and profits from drug trafficking cartels. That's the distinction between Venezuela and other nations."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Cotton, click here.
