January 5, 2026 • 27 mins
Sean examines criticism of the presidents Venezuela strategy, contrasting public claims with outcomes. The conversation centers on the argument that if the policy were working, Juan Guaid would be in Venezuela, not here. The critic contends the Maduro regime is more powerful and entrenched today than when the effort began. Sean weighs these claims and what they reveal about the policy's track record this hour.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Eight our two Sean Hannity Show eight hundred and nine
point one, Sean, if you want to be a part
of the program. There's so much that that took place,
and I don't care if it's what happened with the
president taking out the Iranian nuclear sites or this operation
that took place in Venezuela. New York Times reporting that
(00:24):
the CIA had sources inside Maduro's government helping They were
able to actually build a replica of Maduro's house prior
to this invasion. The Delta Force, this elite unit involved
in the two thousand and three capture of Saddam Hussein
as well as counter terrorism missions following the nine to
(00:46):
eleven attacks inside. What it is that the US army
unit did to capture Maduro? You know, seeing that a
Chinook helicopter was for the pilot was shot, landed, the
helicopter got air cover, was able to get the bird
back in the air, get it back to safety, and
(01:07):
thank god, nobody was killed, no equipment was lost. That
aspect of this just does not get the credit that
it deserves. Let me go to the Secretary of State
Marco Rubio explaining why the US is taking over the
Venezuelan oil industry and why regime change is different in
(01:28):
Venezuela than other countries.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He was on meat the Press this weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
The question is, I guess if the purpose of the
operation was to capture Maduro and bring him to justice,
why does the United States need to take over the
Venezuelan oil industry.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, we don't need to the purpose. Let me go
back up. We don't need Venezuela's oil. We have plenty
of oil in the United States. What we're not going
to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to
be controlled by adversaries of the United States. You have
to understand why does China need their oil, Why does
Russia need their oil, Why does Iron need their oil?
They're not even in this continent. This is the Western Hemisphere.
(02:04):
This is where we live, and we're not going to
allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation
for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States. We
also want to see that oil and the proceeds from
it hold on. We want to see the oil proceeds
of that country benefit the people of Venezuela. Why have
eight million people left Venezuela. Eight million, the single largest
mass migration probably in modern history, left Venezuela's in twenty
(02:27):
fourteen because all the wealth of that country was stolen
to the benefit of Maduro and his cronies in the regime,
but not to the benefit of people of Venezuela. You
know how destabilizing eight million migrants is. We've got this
phobia built up and this sort of thing. That's likely
number one most of the experts that people have on
tell I watched these experts and it's clown hour.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
These are people that have focused their entire career on
the Middle East or some other part of the work
because that's where all the action was.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
They very few of.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Them know anything about Venezuela or the Western hemisphere. Venezuela
looks nothing like Libya. It looks nothing like a rock,
looks nothing like Afghanistan. It looks nothing like the Middle
East other than the Iranian agents that are running through
their plotting against America. These are Western countries with long
traditions among the people to people and cultural level and
ties to the United States. So there's nothing like that.
(03:15):
So I think people need to stop ascribing the apples
and oranges here the apples or the Middle East to
the oranges of the western hemisphere. Number two, this is
about the national interest of the United States, and what
I'm confident of is we are in a safer and
better place because we're taking it seriously. The alternative would
have been to leave Maduro there as an indicted the
drug trafficker, illegitimate president running the country, open invitation for
(03:37):
all of our adversaries to do whatever they want against
the United States from Venezuela. That was not going to continue.
What the alternative would have been to allow a drug
trafficker to continue to use national territory and elements of
nation state power to further drug trafficking organizations. Read the indictment.
This guy used the levers of their security apparatus not
(03:58):
to arrest drug traffickers, to cooperate and facilitate the trafficking
of drugs for the purpose of getting them into the
United States.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And that's going to stop.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I mean, it's so entertaining to watch Mark or just
tear these people up on these Sunday shows. Joining US
now Vice Admiral Robert Harwood of the US Navy and
also is the general and Admirals Program participant member of
the Jewish Institute for the National Security of America. Not
(04:28):
only to discuss what we have witnessed in Venezuela, but
we also are watching the Mullahs in Iran on the
brink as now. People have taken to the streets in
Tehran and around the country demanding themselves regime change in Iran,
as they are now perhaps even on the brink themselves. Certainly,
(04:52):
Cuba is going to be impacted by the actions that
the President took in Venezuela, and I could see that
hoppling of its own weight and corruption as well. Anyway,
Vice Admiral, great to have you, sir.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Sounds great. And I think that lead in you provided
by Secretary Rubio is so succinct, precise, and makes it
very clear why this is so important not just for
the United States, but for Venezuela and the people of Venezuela.
And I think if you even want to take a
step back, unlike the previous three administrations over decades now,
(05:32):
this administration has been willing to use force for good,
for good of the United States and for the good
and well being of the people of these countries that
have been oppressed for many years. So Venezuela is a
perfect example. But you have Iran, you have Cuba, and
(05:53):
as the President said last week in his words to
the Iranian people, we stand in support and we're going
to hold leadership there accountable. So this is unprecedented for
over several decades. So it's just good change to calculus everywhere.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Let's talk about why this was needed, and then the
military aspect of all of this, because whenever you take
military actions such as this, I mean, I know our
equipment is superior, I know our troops are superior. I
have great confidence in our military. But every military operation
brings with it inherent risks, and like Midnight Hammer, this
(06:35):
came off without a hitch.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Well, the number one thing you did mention, and what
separates us from everyone is our experience. We've been doing
this sort of business for decades. Don't forget what started,
especially in Latin America. Remember when we were chasing and
targeting and went after Pablo Escobar. Then we went into Panama.
(06:58):
So we have a great ex experience. We've done this,
we rehearsed for this, we've trained this, and then an
Iraq and Afghanistan, including the ubl raid. We've done this
time in and time again. So once we've done it once,
you refine that. And if you really remember what all
started this was the failure of Desert One, where Congress
(07:21):
stepped in and said, hey, you go to create a
special Operations Command. So we learned from that, let that
lesson over forty five years ago, and then have rehearsed, trained,
and executed these type of raids and seizures over decades.
No other military in the force in the world have
(07:41):
the capabilities, the professionalism we do, much less the operational experience,
and that's why this is just another day and another
operation for the best military in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It really is beyond impressive and godspeed and an amazing,
amazing tip of the cap to our military to do
this in the way that they did it with you know,
next to zero collateral damage in the process, which is
remarkable in and of itself as well and something that
has been long overdue. Your background is very interested interesting
(08:21):
to me. You graduated from the Tehran American School, You
speak Farsi, uh former Navy seal Vice admiral. You led
US invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, served as Deputy commander
of the US Central Command, helped stand up, you know,
(08:44):
and set up the National counter Terrorism Center, and was
asked by President Trump to serve as National Security Advisor.
And you have lived and worked across the Middle East,
you know for decades. You understand this, and you know,
what are you to make of the unrest that we
now see daily inside of Iran? Now we have seen
(09:05):
it before, and unfortunately that unrest usually gets quelled because
you don't win revolutions with slingshots. Why do I feel
this time is different? I mean, they're trying to move
everybody out of their major city in Tehran because they
don't have any water. They've been cut off financially. The
big the lifeblood of their economy has been oil, but
(09:28):
the Trump administration is making it very difficult for them
to sell any of it. What do you see happening?
There are we on the verge of possible regime chains.
There is Cuba next to fall after Venezuela. As you know,
look at you know, the global situation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
There's a lot happening.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Well, let me first off, I got to go back
and say, while we talked about the military, what's really
precedent setting is this administration, President Trump, Secretary of Rubio,
Secretary head set going to use force. So first kudos
for them, and that's playing out in Iran. We knew
(10:07):
Iranians were killing our people in Iraq in ten twenty
twelve to their surrogates, and we wanted to take action,
but the administration was focused on solving the nuclear program
and reaching an agreement the jackpoa to them, so they
were very leary and hesitant to use force. This president
(10:30):
supported the Israeli strikes and used force, and that really
unveiled to the people of Iran how weak the Islamic
Revolution really is. So couple that with the disaster of
governance that they've provided. They can failed the people militarily,
(10:51):
they're war in Iraq, they're exporting the revolution into Lebanon, Yemen,
Syrian other places. But most important, they failed the people
of the Iran Internally. The really I think it is
a million and sum to a dollar. There's no water
in the cities, people can't afford housing, they can't afford food,
(11:13):
and the most important, the bizarre East, the guys who
work all the money and it's all about money in Iran,
you gota survive. They have now turned against the regime,
so there's no doubt in my mind there will be
regime collapse. Now what form that's going to take and
what triggering event really dries it over the keel and
(11:34):
what government comes next is the big issue.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
I lived in Iran when it was a constitutional monarchy
from nineteen sixty eight to nineteen seventy nine, and I
was there. When you talk about then, that's exactly right
the Shah of Iran. But previous to that, in the fifties,
they had to go at at, had to go at democracy.
They elected a prime minister the US and quite the
(12:02):
opposite situation today, but there are some analogies to Venezuela.
Everyone was concerned about the prime prime minister nationalizing oil,
so there was a coup a US and English. The
British coup that removed the prime minister, installed the Shaw
(12:24):
and the power. He became very Western. He promoted change,
women's right, lands reforms, so he was doing so much
for the country, but he fell to this revolution. I
think we're in that same position today where the people
of Iran realized this government has failed them for decades,
(12:46):
has squandered the resources to export the revolution as opposed
to taking care of the people. That's going to come
back to roost right now, So I think it's inevitable.
Add to that, this action had been anela which demonstrated
to them and the people that he's willing to support.
And then most importantly, President Trump's message to the regime
(13:09):
and the Iranian people that we will support them and
hold the regime accountable is really one of those there,
and he's demonstrated he's willing to do that as this
previous strike into Iran and now in Venezuela, and that
empowers the people and further weakens the government. So I'm
(13:30):
very confident and hope this long overdue regime collapse will
come to fruition.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
The hypocrisy of the left is breathtaking. Let's take a
little trip down memory lane, Jai, and let's listen to
Chuck Schumer criticizing Donald J. Trump or not doing anything
about Aduro and Venezuela.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
He brags about all these things he wants to do
or is doing, but his actions lie his words. Maybe
the best metap or was his claim to bring democracy
to Venezuela. There was a big policy there. It flopped.
If the policy was working, Juan Guido wouldn't be in
the balcony here, he'd be in Venezuela. He'd be sitting
(14:14):
in the president's palace, or at least waging a fight
to win. He's here, and the President brags about his
Venezuela policy. Give us a break. He hasn't brought an
end to the Maduro regime. The Meduro regime is more
powerful today and more intrenched today than it was when
the president began.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Well, it sounds like he's a big advocate for what
Donald Trump did over the weekend. But apparently since the
President actually did what Schumer was begging him to do,
he's not so happy anymore.
Speaker 7 (14:42):
Listen, the United States will run Venezuela. We have learned
through the years. When America tries to do regime change
and nation building in this way, the American people pay
the price in both blood and in Dama.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
You heard Secretary Rubia.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
He says the United States has the authority to do
what they're doing.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
They do not.
Speaker 7 (15:04):
They do not.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Why not?
Speaker 7 (15:06):
He couldn't even answer your question. There is no authority
to go. They did not just do ships off the water.
They went inside Venezuela. Bombed civilian as well as military places.
And it's a violation of the law to do what
they did without getting the authorization of Congress.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So what can the Congress do about it?
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Is the next question?
Speaker 7 (15:26):
Well, the next question is very simple, and that is
that we have the War Powers Act. That's a privileged resolution,
which means the Republicans can't block it. Tim Kaine and
I and Rand Paul are sponsors of it. It's going
to come to the floor this week and if it
is voted for, if it's voted positively in both houses,
(15:46):
then the president can't do another thing in Venezuela without
the okay of Congress.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We have to pass not going to happen. Interesting, Joe Biden,
same thing. Trump talk's tough on Venezuela, but admires thugs
and dictators like Nicholas Maduro. As president, I will stand
with the Venezuelan people for democracy.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
All he did was talk.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Remember President Trump would always say, they talked, they talk,
they do nothing, you know, wink and Tony Blincoln, you know,
discussing the return to democracy in Venezuela. Biden then extended
Obama air executive orders deeming Venezuela threat to US security,
put a twenty five million dollar bounty on the capture.
I guess maybe Trump's do twenty five million bucks so
(16:29):
he can give it to the military, and you know,
calls for sanctions, et cetera, and Biden failed to take
any meaningful action when Venezuela snubbed US sanctions and imported
Iranian oil and was exporting to the Iranians.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
He didn't do a thing. But anyway, it continues.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Anyway, joining us now on the legal aspect of all this,
I was watching Saturday, and almost right from the get go,
the person they got it right was Greg Jarrett. In
terms of no, Donald Trump's ordered to snatch Maduro was
not illegal, it was not unconstitutional. And no, he could
not go to Congress because you think the people in
(17:09):
Congress would keep their mouths shut. No, they would have
put the lives of our brave men and women at
risk because they would have leaked it all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Anyway, mister Jared, sir, how are you hey?
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I'm well, thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I guess Donald Trump has owed twenty five million dollars
because it was Biden to put the twenty five million
dollar reward for Maduro's arrest.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Well, he's been arrested.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Yeah, no kidding. And you know you played the clip
of Chucky Schumer and you got to laugh at him
saying it's a violation of the law not to consult
and get permission from Congress. What law? You know, Schimarana
take a few moments to just try to read and
comprehend simultaneously the United States Constitution. The president does have
(17:52):
to go to Congress for a declaration of war, but
for an armed conflict, he can act on his own.
It's an inherent constitutional authority under Article two, section two
the Constitution, and every president since World War Two, from
Harry Truman all the way up to Donald Trump have
done that. When Trump does it, you know, Schimard denounces him.
(18:16):
But you know when Clinton and Biden and Obama did
the same sort of thing, launching attacks without congressional approval,
drone strikes and so forth, they cheered him. And you know,
so it's frank hypocrisy. Beyond constitutional authority, there's also the
(18:37):
take care clause also Article two, section three, that a
president shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
That means he has to enforce statutes and when there
is somebody, doesn't matter who the person is, where that
person is, who is charged with serious crimes. Apprehension, arrests,
(19:00):
execution of that wanted fugitive is part of the president's job.
So this was both a military operation as well as
a law enforcement operation. You had law enforcement officials DJ
on the scene involved in it, and so under both
(19:21):
constitutional causes, the president was four square correct in doing
what he did.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Well, we can go back.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
I mean, we did capture Saddam Hussein. We can go
back to the former president of Honduras, one Orlando Hernandez,
was extradited to the US in twenty twenty two, later
convicted of drug related charges. We have the case of
Norieger Manuel Noriega, again an illegitimate leader and had recognized
(19:48):
as the country's leader, leading candidate. So all of this
President you rightly point out, but you listen to the
left and they're acting like And by the way, there
was silence among Democrats when all these other their incidents occurred.
So is it just from derangement syndrome?
Speaker 6 (20:04):
Yeah, a lot of it is. They reflexively condemned Trump
for anything and everything he does, even if they like it.
I mean, he said years ago during his first term.
If Trump heres cancer, they'll denounce him for it. You're
you know, you're violating mother nature. I mean, they'll come
(20:24):
up with something because they hate him so much. They
despise him personally, they have contempt for his policies. I mean,
look at the hundreds of lawsuits in the first year
that they filed against Donald Trump. It these so much
as sneezes. They sue and you know, they go out
(20:45):
in front of television cameras and they, you know, condemned
and denounced Donald Trump for everything he does.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Well, I mean, this gets to the heart of it.
But let's go to the legal aspect of it, because
you and your column rightly point out their condemnation of
Trump has nothing to do with the law. And no
president has recognized the War Powers Act, have they?
Speaker 6 (21:05):
No, they haven't. Most legal scholars, the good ones at least,
has pronounced it an unconstitutional violation of the president's inherent
authority to engage in armed conflict for defense purposes. And
here you can argue that the scourge of drugs, you know,
(21:28):
two hundred and fifteen metric tons of cocaine a year,
and the United States is the favored market. Taking action
to stop it is defensive in nature. But you know,
this canard that it's a violation of the War Powers Act,
which is what Schumer said in the clip you've played,
(21:51):
is simply untrue. The War Powers Resolution back in nineteen
seventy three, in reaction to Nixon's bombing of Cambodi, is
a prohibition on a president to act. It's a notification requirement.
He has to notify Congress within forty eight hours. And
you know, some people like Obama, some presidents like Obama
(22:15):
have utterly ignored it. Obama did notify Congress, but he
blew past the sixty to ninety day limitation of military
troops in Libya. And you know he just decided, along
with his scholars, you can't make me do it. It's unconstitutional.
And when push came to shove, Congress didn't pursue it,
(22:36):
and they won't hear either.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Quick break more with our legal analyst, our friend Greg
Jarrett on the other side. Also your calls coming up,
and an update on the Somali fraud situation. Eight hundred
ninety four one, Shawn is a number as we continue
this Monday. All right, we continue now, Greg Jarrett Is
with us. Yes, what the President did is legal, it
is constitutional.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Well, but he.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Seems to want to focus in on how the United
States built Venezuela's oil industry. Now, if you look, if
you look at their oil reserves, it has the largest
oil reserves in the entire world, which is amazing because
you know, American companies had invested all of this money.
(23:21):
And I went through this and I have a list
of all of the money that they made. But American
oil companies have been operating in Venezuela since the nineteen twenties.
They built out and developed the entire oil industry in
that country, right. And then it was nineteen seventy six
with then Venezuelan and President Carlos Andres Perez nationalized the
(23:42):
oil industry, taking control of American and other oil assets.
American companies, you know, lost billions and billions of dollars.
And I do believe that the president. Again, the President
has said that during this transition he's not going to
allow just another dictator to take over and pretty much
(24:02):
return to where we are at this point. But knowing
the President as well as we do, I would and
him having had conversations with the oil industries and the
oil companies that I guess maybe had written us off
as a loss. I would imagine they're going to recoup
their losses. And once they start updating and producing oil
(24:23):
at the level that they're going to be capable of,
that's not only going to benefit American oil companies, but
the people of Venezuela and probably even the US government
in a lot of ways as well. And it will
lower the price of oil and global markets, won't it.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
Oh, it absolutely will. So everybody wins, particularly the Venezuelan
people who eight percent live in poverty because Maduro took
whatever oil and drug funds and absconded with it, eluted
the government, and you know, the poor people of Venezuela
(25:00):
got poorer and poorer. Now they now have potentially a
bright future, as I pointed out in my column. And
the template for this is Panama, which under Noriega impoverished
so many people. But when democracy was set up after
he was captured, it undertook a remarkable economic renewal in
(25:23):
Panama and it transformed the country and the people of
Panama benefited with greater prosperity and financial gain. And so
I think that's the parallel that we look at in
so many different ways. Three hundred and three billion barrels
(25:45):
of oil. Now it's dirty oil in Venezuela, so it requires.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
A massive amount of refining. Yes, yes, it does well,
he does.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
But the only the only people capable of that are
American oil companies and refiner And you know, they were
looted into the nationalization. They lost billions of dollars. They
got to be compensated in some form or fashion. But
I you know, I think if American oil went in
there and rebuilt the oil and refinery infrastructure, it not
(26:18):
only benefits the people there, lowers the price of oil everywhere,
and it harms Zaran, China, Russia, Turkey, Cuba, all of
our enemies because they were the ones who were propping
up Venezuela by buying their cheap, dirty oil.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
We appreciate it. Great analysis as always, Greg Jarrett, thank you.
Eight hundred and nine four one Sean. If you want
to be a part of the program, we'll update you
on Somali medicare fraud. Maria Merschado is going to be
on Hannity tonight. She has been one of the top
opposition leaders had to be an exile for many, many years.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What does she hope for?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
And as well, remember she got the Nobel Peace Prize
and said Donald Trump deserved it, not me.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
She'll join us on TV tonight
Eight our two Sean Hannity Show eight hundred and nine
point one, Sean, if you want to be a part
of the program. There's so much that that took place,
and I don't care if it's what happened with the
president taking out the Iranian nuclear sites or this operation
that took place in Venezuela. New York Times reporting that
(00:24):
the CIA had sources inside Maduro's government helping They were
able to actually build a replica of Maduro's house prior
to this invasion. The Delta Force, this elite unit involved
in the two thousand and three capture of Saddam Hussein
as well as counter terrorism missions following the nine to
(00:46):
eleven attacks inside. What it is that the US army
unit did to capture Maduro? You know, seeing that a
Chinook helicopter was for the pilot was shot, landed, the
helicopter got air cover, was able to get the bird
back in the air, get it back to safety, and
(01:07):
thank god, nobody was killed, no equipment was lost. That
aspect of this just does not get the credit that
it deserves. Let me go to the Secretary of State
Marco Rubio explaining why the US is taking over the
Venezuelan oil industry and why regime change is different in
(01:28):
Venezuela than other countries.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
He was on meat the Press this weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
The question is, I guess if the purpose of the
operation was to capture Maduro and bring him to justice,
why does the United States need to take over the
Venezuelan oil industry.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, we don't need to the purpose. Let me go
back up. We don't need Venezuela's oil. We have plenty
of oil in the United States. What we're not going
to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to
be controlled by adversaries of the United States. You have
to understand why does China need their oil, Why does
Russia need their oil, Why does Iron need their oil?
They're not even in this continent. This is the Western Hemisphere.
(02:04):
This is where we live, and we're not going to
allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation
for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States. We
also want to see that oil and the proceeds from
it hold on. We want to see the oil proceeds
of that country benefit the people of Venezuela. Why have
eight million people left Venezuela. Eight million, the single largest
mass migration probably in modern history, left Venezuela's in twenty
(02:27):
fourteen because all the wealth of that country was stolen
to the benefit of Maduro and his cronies in the regime,
but not to the benefit of people of Venezuela. You
know how destabilizing eight million migrants is. We've got this
phobia built up and this sort of thing. That's likely
number one most of the experts that people have on
tell I watched these experts and it's clown hour.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
These are people that have focused their entire career on
the Middle East or some other part of the work
because that's where all the action was.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
They very few of.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Them know anything about Venezuela or the Western hemisphere. Venezuela
looks nothing like Libya. It looks nothing like a rock,
looks nothing like Afghanistan. It looks nothing like the Middle
East other than the Iranian agents that are running through
their plotting against America. These are Western countries with long
traditions among the people to people and cultural level and
ties to the United States. So there's nothing like that.
(03:15):
So I think people need to stop ascribing the apples
and oranges here the apples or the Middle East to
the oranges of the western hemisphere. Number two, this is
about the national interest of the United States, and what
I'm confident of is we are in a safer and
better place because we're taking it seriously. The alternative would
have been to leave Maduro there as an indicted the
drug trafficker, illegitimate president running the country, open invitation for
(03:37):
all of our adversaries to do whatever they want against
the United States from Venezuela. That was not going to continue.
What the alternative would have been to allow a drug
trafficker to continue to use national territory and elements of
nation state power to further drug trafficking organizations. Read the indictment.
This guy used the levers of their security apparatus not
(03:58):
to arrest drug traffickers, to cooperate and facilitate the trafficking
of drugs for the purpose of getting them into the
United States.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And that's going to stop.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
I mean, it's so entertaining to watch Mark or just
tear these people up on these Sunday shows. Joining US
now Vice Admiral Robert Harwood of the US Navy and
also is the general and Admirals Program participant member of
the Jewish Institute for the National Security of America. Not
(04:28):
only to discuss what we have witnessed in Venezuela, but
we also are watching the Mullahs in Iran on the
brink as now. People have taken to the streets in
Tehran and around the country demanding themselves regime change in Iran,
as they are now perhaps even on the brink themselves. Certainly,
(04:52):
Cuba is going to be impacted by the actions that
the President took in Venezuela, and I could see that
hoppling of its own weight and corruption as well. Anyway,
Vice Admiral, great to have you, sir.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Sounds great. And I think that lead in you provided
by Secretary Rubio is so succinct, precise, and makes it
very clear why this is so important not just for
the United States, but for Venezuela and the people of Venezuela.
And I think if you even want to take a
step back, unlike the previous three administrations over decades now,
(05:32):
this administration has been willing to use force for good,
for good of the United States and for the good
and well being of the people of these countries that
have been oppressed for many years. So Venezuela is a
perfect example. But you have Iran, you have Cuba, and
(05:53):
as the President said last week in his words to
the Iranian people, we stand in support and we're going
to hold leadership there accountable. So this is unprecedented for
over several decades. So it's just good change to calculus everywhere.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Let's talk about why this was needed, and then the
military aspect of all of this, because whenever you take
military actions such as this, I mean, I know our
equipment is superior, I know our troops are superior. I
have great confidence in our military. But every military operation
brings with it inherent risks, and like Midnight Hammer, this
(06:35):
came off without a hitch.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Well, the number one thing you did mention, and what
separates us from everyone is our experience. We've been doing
this sort of business for decades. Don't forget what started,
especially in Latin America. Remember when we were chasing and
targeting and went after Pablo Escobar. Then we went into Panama.
(06:58):
So we have a great ex experience. We've done this,
we rehearsed for this, we've trained this, and then an
Iraq and Afghanistan, including the ubl raid. We've done this
time in and time again. So once we've done it once,
you refine that. And if you really remember what all
started this was the failure of Desert One, where Congress
(07:21):
stepped in and said, hey, you go to create a
special Operations Command. So we learned from that, let that
lesson over forty five years ago, and then have rehearsed, trained,
and executed these type of raids and seizures over decades.
No other military in the force in the world have
(07:41):
the capabilities, the professionalism we do, much less the operational experience,
and that's why this is just another day and another
operation for the best military in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It really is beyond impressive and godspeed and an amazing,
amazing tip of the cap to our military to do
this in the way that they did it with you know,
next to zero collateral damage in the process, which is
remarkable in and of itself as well and something that
has been long overdue. Your background is very interested interesting
(08:21):
to me. You graduated from the Tehran American School, You
speak Farsi, uh former Navy seal Vice admiral. You led
US invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, served as Deputy commander
of the US Central Command, helped stand up, you know,
(08:44):
and set up the National counter Terrorism Center, and was
asked by President Trump to serve as National Security Advisor.
And you have lived and worked across the Middle East,
you know for decades. You understand this, and you know,
what are you to make of the unrest that we
now see daily inside of Iran? Now we have seen
(09:05):
it before, and unfortunately that unrest usually gets quelled because
you don't win revolutions with slingshots. Why do I feel
this time is different? I mean, they're trying to move
everybody out of their major city in Tehran because they
don't have any water. They've been cut off financially. The
big the lifeblood of their economy has been oil, but
(09:28):
the Trump administration is making it very difficult for them
to sell any of it. What do you see happening?
There are we on the verge of possible regime chains.
There is Cuba next to fall after Venezuela. As you know,
look at you know, the global situation.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
There's a lot happening.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
Well, let me first off, I got to go back
and say, while we talked about the military, what's really
precedent setting is this administration, President Trump, Secretary of Rubio,
Secretary head set going to use force. So first kudos
for them, and that's playing out in Iran. We knew
(10:07):
Iranians were killing our people in Iraq in ten twenty
twelve to their surrogates, and we wanted to take action,
but the administration was focused on solving the nuclear program
and reaching an agreement the jackpoa to them, so they
were very leary and hesitant to use force. This president
(10:30):
supported the Israeli strikes and used force, and that really
unveiled to the people of Iran how weak the Islamic
Revolution really is. So couple that with the disaster of
governance that they've provided. They can failed the people militarily,
(10:51):
they're war in Iraq, they're exporting the revolution into Lebanon, Yemen,
Syrian other places. But most important, they failed the people
of the Iran Internally. The really I think it is
a million and sum to a dollar. There's no water
in the cities, people can't afford housing, they can't afford food,
(11:13):
and the most important, the bizarre East, the guys who
work all the money and it's all about money in Iran,
you gota survive. They have now turned against the regime,
so there's no doubt in my mind there will be
regime collapse. Now what form that's going to take and
what triggering event really dries it over the keel and
(11:34):
what government comes next is the big issue.
Speaker 6 (11:38):
Now.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
I lived in Iran when it was a constitutional monarchy
from nineteen sixty eight to nineteen seventy nine, and I
was there. When you talk about then, that's exactly right
the Shah of Iran. But previous to that, in the fifties,
they had to go at at, had to go at democracy.
They elected a prime minister the US and quite the
(12:02):
opposite situation today, but there are some analogies to Venezuela.
Everyone was concerned about the prime prime minister nationalizing oil,
so there was a coup a US and English. The
British coup that removed the prime minister, installed the Shaw
(12:24):
and the power. He became very Western. He promoted change,
women's right, lands reforms, so he was doing so much
for the country, but he fell to this revolution. I
think we're in that same position today where the people
of Iran realized this government has failed them for decades,
(12:46):
has squandered the resources to export the revolution as opposed
to taking care of the people. That's going to come
back to roost right now, So I think it's inevitable.
Add to that, this action had been anela which demonstrated
to them and the people that he's willing to support.
And then most importantly, President Trump's message to the regime
(13:09):
and the Iranian people that we will support them and
hold the regime accountable is really one of those there,
and he's demonstrated he's willing to do that as this
previous strike into Iran and now in Venezuela, and that
empowers the people and further weakens the government. So I'm
(13:30):
very confident and hope this long overdue regime collapse will
come to fruition.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
The hypocrisy of the left is breathtaking. Let's take a
little trip down memory lane, Jai, and let's listen to
Chuck Schumer criticizing Donald J. Trump or not doing anything
about Aduro and Venezuela.
Speaker 7 (13:52):
He brags about all these things he wants to do
or is doing, but his actions lie his words. Maybe
the best metap or was his claim to bring democracy
to Venezuela. There was a big policy there. It flopped.
If the policy was working, Juan Guido wouldn't be in
the balcony here, he'd be in Venezuela. He'd be sitting
(14:14):
in the president's palace, or at least waging a fight
to win. He's here, and the President brags about his
Venezuela policy. Give us a break. He hasn't brought an
end to the Maduro regime. The Meduro regime is more
powerful today and more intrenched today than it was when
the president began.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Well, it sounds like he's a big advocate for what
Donald Trump did over the weekend. But apparently since the
President actually did what Schumer was begging him to do,
he's not so happy anymore.
Speaker 7 (14:42):
Listen, the United States will run Venezuela. We have learned
through the years. When America tries to do regime change
and nation building in this way, the American people pay
the price in both blood and in Dama.
Speaker 5 (15:00):
You heard Secretary Rubia.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
He says the United States has the authority to do
what they're doing.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
They do not.
Speaker 7 (15:04):
They do not.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Why not?
Speaker 7 (15:06):
He couldn't even answer your question. There is no authority
to go. They did not just do ships off the water.
They went inside Venezuela. Bombed civilian as well as military places.
And it's a violation of the law to do what
they did without getting the authorization of Congress.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So what can the Congress do about it?
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Is the next question?
Speaker 7 (15:26):
Well, the next question is very simple, and that is
that we have the War Powers Act. That's a privileged resolution,
which means the Republicans can't block it. Tim Kaine and
I and Rand Paul are sponsors of it. It's going
to come to the floor this week and if it
is voted for, if it's voted positively in both houses,
(15:46):
then the president can't do another thing in Venezuela without
the okay of Congress.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
We have to pass not going to happen. Interesting, Joe Biden,
same thing. Trump talk's tough on Venezuela, but admires thugs
and dictators like Nicholas Maduro. As president, I will stand
with the Venezuelan people for democracy.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
All he did was talk.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Remember President Trump would always say, they talked, they talk,
they do nothing, you know, wink and Tony Blincoln, you know,
discussing the return to democracy in Venezuela. Biden then extended
Obama air executive orders deeming Venezuela threat to US security,
put a twenty five million dollar bounty on the capture.
I guess maybe Trump's do twenty five million bucks so
(16:29):
he can give it to the military, and you know,
calls for sanctions, et cetera, and Biden failed to take
any meaningful action when Venezuela snubbed US sanctions and imported
Iranian oil and was exporting to the Iranians.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
He didn't do a thing. But anyway, it continues.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Anyway, joining us now on the legal aspect of all this,
I was watching Saturday, and almost right from the get go,
the person they got it right was Greg Jarrett. In
terms of no, Donald Trump's ordered to snatch Maduro was
not illegal, it was not unconstitutional. And no, he could
not go to Congress because you think the people in
(17:09):
Congress would keep their mouths shut. No, they would have
put the lives of our brave men and women at
risk because they would have leaked it all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Anyway, mister Jared, sir, how are you hey?
Speaker 6 (17:19):
I'm well, thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
I guess Donald Trump has owed twenty five million dollars
because it was Biden to put the twenty five million
dollar reward for Maduro's arrest.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Well, he's been arrested.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Yeah, no kidding. And you know you played the clip
of Chucky Schumer and you got to laugh at him
saying it's a violation of the law not to consult
and get permission from Congress. What law? You know, Schimarana
take a few moments to just try to read and
comprehend simultaneously the United States Constitution. The president does have
(17:52):
to go to Congress for a declaration of war, but
for an armed conflict, he can act on his own.
It's an inherent constitutional authority under Article two, section two
the Constitution, and every president since World War Two, from
Harry Truman all the way up to Donald Trump have
done that. When Trump does it, you know, Schimard denounces him.
(18:16):
But you know when Clinton and Biden and Obama did
the same sort of thing, launching attacks without congressional approval,
drone strikes and so forth, they cheered him. And you know,
so it's frank hypocrisy. Beyond constitutional authority, there's also the
(18:37):
take care clause also Article two, section three, that a
president shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
That means he has to enforce statutes and when there
is somebody, doesn't matter who the person is, where that
person is, who is charged with serious crimes. Apprehension, arrests,
(19:00):
execution of that wanted fugitive is part of the president's job.
So this was both a military operation as well as
a law enforcement operation. You had law enforcement officials DJ
on the scene involved in it, and so under both
(19:21):
constitutional causes, the president was four square correct in doing
what he did.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Well, we can go back.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
I mean, we did capture Saddam Hussein. We can go
back to the former president of Honduras, one Orlando Hernandez,
was extradited to the US in twenty twenty two, later
convicted of drug related charges. We have the case of
Norieger Manuel Noriega, again an illegitimate leader and had recognized
(19:48):
as the country's leader, leading candidate. So all of this
President you rightly point out, but you listen to the
left and they're acting like And by the way, there
was silence among Democrats when all these other their incidents occurred.
So is it just from derangement syndrome?
Speaker 6 (20:04):
Yeah, a lot of it is. They reflexively condemned Trump
for anything and everything he does, even if they like it.
I mean, he said years ago during his first term.
If Trump heres cancer, they'll denounce him for it. You're
you know, you're violating mother nature. I mean, they'll come
(20:24):
up with something because they hate him so much. They
despise him personally, they have contempt for his policies. I mean,
look at the hundreds of lawsuits in the first year
that they filed against Donald Trump. It these so much
as sneezes. They sue and you know, they go out
(20:45):
in front of television cameras and they, you know, condemned
and denounced Donald Trump for everything he does.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Well, I mean, this gets to the heart of it.
But let's go to the legal aspect of it, because
you and your column rightly point out their condemnation of
Trump has nothing to do with the law. And no
president has recognized the War Powers Act, have they?
Speaker 6 (21:05):
No, they haven't. Most legal scholars, the good ones at least,
has pronounced it an unconstitutional violation of the president's inherent
authority to engage in armed conflict for defense purposes. And
here you can argue that the scourge of drugs, you know,
(21:28):
two hundred and fifteen metric tons of cocaine a year,
and the United States is the favored market. Taking action
to stop it is defensive in nature. But you know,
this canard that it's a violation of the War Powers Act,
which is what Schumer said in the clip you've played,
(21:51):
is simply untrue. The War Powers Resolution back in nineteen
seventy three, in reaction to Nixon's bombing of Cambodi, is
a prohibition on a president to act. It's a notification requirement.
He has to notify Congress within forty eight hours. And
you know, some people like Obama, some presidents like Obama
(22:15):
have utterly ignored it. Obama did notify Congress, but he
blew past the sixty to ninety day limitation of military
troops in Libya. And you know he just decided, along
with his scholars, you can't make me do it. It's unconstitutional.
And when push came to shove, Congress didn't pursue it,
(22:36):
and they won't hear either.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Quick break more with our legal analyst, our friend Greg
Jarrett on the other side. Also your calls coming up,
and an update on the Somali fraud situation. Eight hundred
ninety four one, Shawn is a number as we continue
this Monday. All right, we continue now, Greg Jarrett Is
with us. Yes, what the President did is legal, it
is constitutional.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Well, but he.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Seems to want to focus in on how the United
States built Venezuela's oil industry. Now, if you look, if
you look at their oil reserves, it has the largest
oil reserves in the entire world, which is amazing because
you know, American companies had invested all of this money.
(23:21):
And I went through this and I have a list
of all of the money that they made. But American
oil companies have been operating in Venezuela since the nineteen twenties.
They built out and developed the entire oil industry in
that country, right. And then it was nineteen seventy six
with then Venezuelan and President Carlos Andres Perez nationalized the
(23:42):
oil industry, taking control of American and other oil assets.
American companies, you know, lost billions and billions of dollars.
And I do believe that the president. Again, the President
has said that during this transition he's not going to
allow just another dictator to take over and pretty much
(24:02):
return to where we are at this point. But knowing
the President as well as we do, I would and
him having had conversations with the oil industries and the
oil companies that I guess maybe had written us off
as a loss. I would imagine they're going to recoup
their losses. And once they start updating and producing oil
(24:23):
at the level that they're going to be capable of,
that's not only going to benefit American oil companies, but
the people of Venezuela and probably even the US government
in a lot of ways as well. And it will
lower the price of oil and global markets, won't it.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
Oh, it absolutely will. So everybody wins, particularly the Venezuelan
people who eight percent live in poverty because Maduro took
whatever oil and drug funds and absconded with it, eluted
the government, and you know, the poor people of Venezuela
(25:00):
got poorer and poorer. Now they now have potentially a
bright future, as I pointed out in my column. And
the template for this is Panama, which under Noriega impoverished
so many people. But when democracy was set up after
he was captured, it undertook a remarkable economic renewal in
(25:23):
Panama and it transformed the country and the people of
Panama benefited with greater prosperity and financial gain. And so
I think that's the parallel that we look at in
so many different ways. Three hundred and three billion barrels
(25:45):
of oil. Now it's dirty oil in Venezuela, so it requires.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
A massive amount of refining. Yes, yes, it does well,
he does.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
But the only the only people capable of that are
American oil companies and refiner And you know, they were
looted into the nationalization. They lost billions of dollars. They
got to be compensated in some form or fashion. But
I you know, I think if American oil went in
there and rebuilt the oil and refinery infrastructure, it not
(26:18):
only benefits the people there, lowers the price of oil everywhere,
and it harms Zaran, China, Russia, Turkey, Cuba, all of
our enemies because they were the ones who were propping
up Venezuela by buying their cheap, dirty oil.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
We appreciate it. Great analysis as always, Greg Jarrett, thank you.
Eight hundred and nine four one Sean. If you want
to be a part of the program, we'll update you
on Somali medicare fraud. Maria Merschado is going to be
on Hannity tonight. She has been one of the top
opposition leaders had to be an exile for many, many years.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What does she hope for?
Speaker 1 (27:00):
And as well, remember she got the Nobel Peace Prize
and said Donald Trump deserved it, not me.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
She'll join us on TV tonight
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