Democrats press Trump for answers on foiled Venezuela raid

Three Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are demanding answers from the Trump administration about how much it knew about an attempted raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro, an operation they said potentially violated US law and ran counter to American support for negotiations to end the South American country's political standoff.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General William Barr and Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, the lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut expressed "alarm" about the raid led by a former Green Beret and which has resulted in the detention in Venezuela of two American citizens.

"Either the US government was unaware of these planned operations, or was aware and allowed them to proceed," according to the letter sent on Thursday. "Both possibilities are problematic."
"Maduro is a dictator, and the Venezuelan people deserve to live in a democracy again," the Democrats wrote. "But that will only be achieved through vigorous and effective diplomacy, not martial adventurism."