senator. Rand Paul (R-KY) urges Secretary of State Marco Rubio Wednesday on whether the president donald trump Recent actions have justified foreign countries prosecuting him and then entering the United States to capture him.
Paul argues at congressional hearing that Trump captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro If not for US support, he and his wife would be considered an “act of war.” Maduro was originally indicted in the United States in 2020 on narco-terrorism charges. He currently faces trial in New York.
“If a foreign country bombs our anti-aircraft missiles, captures and ousts our president, and blocks our country, is that an act of war?” Paul asked Rubio.
The senator acknowledged that Maduro may be guilty of the crimes he is accused of and that his election victory could be legitimately challenged by other countries, including the United States, but argued that he was being prosecuted under foreign laws, making his arrest more than a law enforcement operation.
“I recognize that, no matter who’s in charge, you’ve been very consistent on all of these issues throughout your career,” Rubio said. “So I’ll point out two things. One, it’s hard for us to imagine that this operation lasted about four and a half hours and was a law enforcement operation to capture a head of state who we don’t recognize as being indicted in the United States.”
Rubio pointed out that Maduro had been indicted before his arrest and that the United States did not recognize his election victory as legitimate.
Paul further asked whether a foreign country’s capture of Trump would be an “act of war” after he was indicted under the laws of that country.
“I’m probably the most anti-war person in the Senate and I would vote to declare war if someone invaded our country and seized our president,” Paul said.
“Look, I think ultimately we’re always going to act in the interest of our country,” Rubio declared, adding that the “reciprocity” Paul was making didn’t actually exist.
Paul dismissed the government’s rationale for arresting Maduro as “empty” arguments that would not hold up under even light scrutiny.
He said:
But what I am saying is that our argument is empty. Drug busts aren’t really a debate. This is a ruse. War arguments are not wars, they are wars and incitements. This isn’t really an argument. We do what we do because we—we have power. We have the strength. We do this because it is in our interest. So we’re not going to let anybody come in, bomb us, block us, take away our president. We have debates about legitimate presidents, illegitimate presidents, bad elections, rigged elections, so we have the same debates in our country that we have with Venezuela.
Watch above via CNN.
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