During a precise attack over the weekend in Venezuela, the self-proclaimed president of that country, Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were taken into custody by the United States. Monday, Maduro pleaded “not guilty” to the charges of being a pusher of dangerous drugs on a massive scale.
In 2020, the last year of Donald Trump’s first term, the Southern District of New York charged Maduro with narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. Much of the coke came into the United States and had a negative impact on American communities. In August of last year, a reward of $50 million was announced for the arrest of Maduro.
The legitimacy of the election that Maduro claims he won has been in question and the majority of the citizens of Venezuela do not consider him to be the president.
While the charges against Maduro were originally filed in 2020 during the last year of Trump’s first term, the story was not a huge story. 2020 was an election year and as a talk show host I do not recall a lot of attention paid to the charges against Maduro.
Thousands and thousands of additional documents in the Epstein Files have just been released from the Justice Department and not only is Trump’s name mentioned many times, but the number of times Trump was on Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet increased significantly from the original number released. According to the newly-released documents, Donald Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet. Epstein had a converted Boeing 727 and several Gulfstream jets. Flying on Epstein’s private jets does not prove any wrongdoing, but one has to wonder exactly what Trump was doing on those trips.
On one flight in 1993, Epstein and Trump were the only passengers named on the flight logs. During another trip, there were 3 passengers listed on the flight logs - Epstein, Trump, and a 20-year-old who was redacted in the files. Two additional flights included 2 women who were described as potential witnesses in the case against Epstein’s partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. If they were potential witnesses then it is suggested that they were among the underaged survivors of Epstein’s illegal lifestyle.
President Trump has condemned the release of the Epstein Files as a distraction from all of the good things the Trump Administration is doing for America. Others are claiming that the new interest in Venezuela and the renewed talk of taking Greenland are distractions from the fact that Trump’s name appears so often in the Epstein Files and that the number of times he was on Epstein’s private jet was much more than originally reported.
In 1997, a controversial movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro hit movie theaters nationwide and it fed the suspicion that presidents are not above manipulating foreign policy to distract from controversies involving presidents. The movie, “Wag The Dog,” was about the president of the United States starting a war with an insignificant country to distract from a sex scandal in which he was involved.
Could the renewed interest in Venezuela and the threat to take over Greenland be examples of “Wag The Dog?” If the American people have learned anything about the administration it is that anything is possible. Throughout our modern history, respect for The Constitution has been an unwavering factor that has held the actions of presidents within an acceptable and legal playing field. But some of the actions and suggested actions of the current administration show an unprecedented disrespect for The Constitution that raises legitimate questions about the premise of the movie, “Wag The Dog.”
