We interrupt the new year with U.S. invasion and occupation…

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U.S. Takeover of Venezuela

We woke up early this Saturday morning to learn that the U.S. invaded Venezuela and captured their president, Nicolás Maduro. Shockingly, we’re apparently claiming a takeover, where the Trump administration stated they we are “going to run” the country. [1]

President Trump said Saturday that the U.S. is "going to run" Venezuela until a "proper transition can take place," following a stunning attack on Caracas to capture President Nicolás Maduro. He added that the U.S. is "not afraid of boots on the ground.”

With previous buildup in activities against Venezuela, Representative Seth Moulton, Democratic member of the House Armed Service Committee, asked directly and found them to be lying about the administration’s ambitions in Venezuela: [2]

Every step of the way, [Trump's] lied about what he's doing. He said that he's not doing regime change, this is exactly what he's done. He said this war was about the drugs, I think we all know that it's not going to stop drugs... fentanyl doesn't come from Venezuela.

Maduro ran for and, based on credible evidence by election observers, lost his bid for a third six-year presidential term in 2024. Yet he kept power after electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner hours after polls closed on July 28. However, unlike in previous presidential elections, election authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. His prior election in 2018 was widely considered a sham after his government banned major opposition parties from participating. [3]

From NBC News reporting: [4]

The opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80% of electronic voting machines following the July 28 election, posted the tallies online and said they show González won twice as many votes as Maduro. The U.S.-based Carter Center, which observed the election on the government’s invitation, declared the opposition-published tallies legitimate. Other election experts that the government allowed to witness the vote said polling records posted online by the opposition appear to exhibit all of the original security features.

Trump and his administration get no credit for ousting a ruler who wouldn’t give up power. Elsewhere in the hemisphere, Brazil convicted its former president Jair Bolsonaro “for plotting a coup after he lost the last election.” [5] However, the United States has yet to hold Trump himself accountable for the conspiracy he led in the January 6, 2021, insurrection after he lost the 2020 election. [6]

Green Lights for China and Russia?

By taking this action in Venezuela (and invoking the “Donroe Doctrine” - a cheeky contortion of the Monroe Doctrine - the foreign policy stance from two centuries ago seeking to push back on European colonial ambitions in the hemisphere), [7] the U.S. could make the world more unstable for international relations and commerce.

This posture of regional spheres of influence could give China and Russia the “go” signal to Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively, within their own spheres. In fact, accordingly to Tom Nichols, contributor to The Atlantic, we may have just handed them a roadmap: [8]

The Chinese, too, are absolutely shocked that a great power is menacing a small neighbor and inflicting regime change by military force. China, the foreign ministry in Beijing said, “is deeply shocked”—at least it wasn’t shocked and stunned—“and strongly condemns the use of force by the U.S. against a sovereign country and the use of force against the president of a country.”
Noble words. And then, like the Russians, the Chinese dared the world to laugh out loud: “China firmly opposes such hegemonic behavior by the U.S., which seriously violates international law, violates Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threatens peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean. We urge the U.S. to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and stop violating the sovereignty and security of other countries.”
Only two days ago, however, China engaged in military exercises that included surrounding Taiwan and then firing missiles in the waters around the island. A giant nation regularly running war games aimed at invading its tiny neighbor—and threatening Japan, for good measure—counts as “hegemonic behavior” that threatens the “peace and security” of a region, and China knows it.
The more stinging irony here is that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping probably approved these public statements with a chuckle. The United States has now given Russia, China, and anyone else who wants to give it a try a road map for invading countries and capturing leaders who displease them, with a lawlessness that by comparison makes the 2003 invasion of Iraq seem as lawyered up as a bank merger.

Personally, I think it’s shameful on a number of levels – this is a backward slide in democratic self-governance and the rule of law, both at home and around the world. And America is leading it.

China and Russia are current and former communist regimes, but the communist philosophy was merely a justification for those in power to remain in power.

Authoritarian power grabs are common, but America had maintained our peaceful transition of national power… until Trump. He tried to keep power here in 2021 after losing the 2020 election, and we have not yet held him and his enablers accountable. As I’ve written in Local Democracy in America, democracy is not a natural impulse and those in power want to stay in power: [9]

We take for granted that norms alone can guide our democratic self-governance journey. However, letting the people decide is not a natural impulse. People in power want to be in power, want to stay in power, and dislike when others question their possession or use of power. Letting the people decide is commonly viewed by those in power as a risk, decreasing the likelihood of achieving their aims; consequently, ensuring a desired outcome becomes preferable to honoring the voters’ democratically made decision.
True democracy is the antithesis of this human impulse. For this reason, democracy doesn’t just work on its own; it takes time and energy from the people to make succeed. Democracy requires we transfer power peacefully to those chosen by the people; the inclination to prevent others from taking power is the primary force that undermines our democratic ideals and constitutional framework.
It is the responsibility of those who favor democracy to keep it vital; it’s in our own collective interest to do so.

Jack Smith

Former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee in December and the transcripts and video of his testimony were released on the last day of the year. [10]

Smith indicted President Trump in 2023 on two separate sets of criminal offenses: [11][12]

In leading the conspiracy to prevent the peaceful transfer of power resulting from the 2020 election, four counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruct the January 6 meeting of the Electoral College, and deny the rights of the American people to have their votes counted, as stated that Donald Trump:
- “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate one or more persons in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States—that is, the right to vote, and to have one's vote counted.”
Also, in keeping classified documents, refusing to return them to the government, and obstructing the government’s effort to secure their return, 37 counts of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and corruptly concealing documents and engaging in a scheme to do so, and lying to federal authorities.

From Jack Smith’s deposition: [13]

The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.
Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.

Smith’s testimony also reminds us that Trump anticipated the violence of the insurrectionist mob and was open to risking the life of Vice President Mike Pence to keep power: [14]

As I said, our evidence is that he in the weeks leading up to January 6th created a level of distrust. He used that level of distrust to get people to believe fraud claims that weren't true. He made false statements to State legislatures, to his supporters in all sorts of contexts and was aware in the days leading up to January 6th that his supporters were angry when he invited them and then he directed them to the Capitol.
Now, once they were at the Capitol and once the attack on the Capitol happened, he refused to stop it. He instead issued a tweet that without question in my mind endangered the life of his own Vice President. And when the violence was going on, he had to be pushed repeatedly by his staff members to do anything to quell it.
And then even afterwards he directed co-conspirators to make calls to Members of Congress, people who had were his political allies, to further delay the proceedings.

Harry Litman, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, described the January 6 insurrection as “the worst crime in the history of the Republic against the peaceful transfer of power, which is the most important aspect of democracy.” [15][16] – a sentiment on which I agree.

Here’s a link to the Jack Smith deposition transcript and his video testimony. [17][18]

Narratives

The book I’m reading or movie I’m watching

The Trump Indictments by Melissa Murray & Andrew Weissman

From the Amazon overview [19]:

Collecting the four unprecedented indictments against Donald Trump, this essential volume features extensive commentary by NYU law professors and MSNBC contributors Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann.
In the long span of American history, Donald Trump is the first former president to face criminal indictment. He is the subject of a series of explosive charges across four cases: the January 6 case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith; the election interference case in Georgia; the classified documents case also brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith; and the "hush money" case in New York.
The Trump Indictments includes:
·       An introduction offering historical background and international comparisons for criminal charges against a former political leader.
·       The four indictments with annotations throughout, including insider notes from an eminent scholar (Murray) and a former federal prosecutor (Weissmann).
·       A cast of characters, from Trump and his alleged co-conspirators to notable Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who face prison sentences as a result of related January 6 cases.
·       A timeline that brings together in one place the critical events that led to the four indictments.
A necessary handbook for anyone following the trials in 2024, The Trump Indictments will endure as an indispensable record of a democracy at the crossroads.

GIF Game

Notes and Sources

[1] Andrew Childers and Dave Lawler, “TRUMP: U.S. WILL "RUN" VENEZUELA, NOT AFRAID OF "BOOTS ON THE GROUND,” Axios, January 3, 2026, https://www.axios.com/2026/01/03/trump-venezuela-maduro

[2] Blue Georgia [@bluealtgeorgia], Threads, January 3, 2026, https://www.threads.com/@blueatlgeorgia/post/DTDsvPLjESJ?xmt=AQF029ThhQpsoHlZvjo694tfawQBIkHSICD5O58pTltxjg

[3] “Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is sworn in despite credible evidence of election loss,” NBC News, January 10, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/venezuelan-president-nicolas-maduro-sworn-credible-evidence-election-l-rcna187175

[4] Ibid.

[5] Kathryn Armstrong, “Bolsonaro ordered to start serving 27-year prison sentence for Brazil coup plot,” BBC News, November 26, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4dl19npv5o

[6] Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissman, The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary, W. W. Norton & Company, 2024, https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Indictments-Historic-Documents-Commentary/dp/1324079207

[7] Steph Whiteside, “What is the ‘Donroe Doctrine’?” News Nation, January 3, 2026, https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/donroe-doctrine-monroe-explainer/

[8] Tom Nichols, “Maybe Russia and China Should Sit This One Out,” The Atlantic, January 3, 2026, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/maybe-russia-and-china-should-sit-one-out/685490/

[9] Mic Farris, Local Democracy in America, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, 2025, p 3.

[10] Julianne McShane, “Jack Smith deposition transcript released,” MS NOW, December 31, 2025, https://www.ms.now/news/jack-smith-deposition-transcript-released

[11] United States v. Trump, 1:23-cr-00257, (D.D.C.), Document 1, August 1, 2023, https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf

[12] United States v. Trump et al, 9:23-cr-80101, (S.D. Fla.), Document 3, June 8, 2023, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653.3.0_12.pdf

[13] Deposition of Jack Smith, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington D.C., December 17, 2025, https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/2025-12/Smith-Depo-Transcript_Redacted-w-Errata.pdf, p 17.

[14] Deposition of Jack Smith, December 17, p 33.

[15] “ICE ramps up recruitment following massive budget raise,” All In with Chris Hayes, August 7, 2025, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ice-ramps-up-recruitment-following-massive-budget-raise/id1314170606?i=1000721217819

[16] “All In with Chris Hayes: MSNBC August 7, 2025, 5:00-6:01 PDT,” Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20250808_000000_All_In_With_Chris_Hayes/start/1740/end/1800

[17] Deposition of Jack Smith

[18] Jack Smith Deposition, House Judiciary GOP, December 17, 2025, posted December 31, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-bhPzQYUE

[19] Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissman, The Trump Indictments, 2024, https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Indictments-Historic-Documents-Commentary/dp/1324079207

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