Ashley Moody defends legality of U.S. arresting Nicolás Maduro

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody is defending the legality of U.S. authorities arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Florida’s former Attorney General characterized the arrest in law enforcement terms and stressed the years of leg work predating indictments of the Venezuelan leader.

“In my past lives as a Judge, as a federal prosecutor, going after cartels, as the wife of a DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) agent, we are so proud of the men and women who worked so hard for this day to come,” the Plant City Republican said at a press conference in Doral.

She slammed criticisms from many Democrats in Congress questioning if the military strikes and capture of a foreign leader complied with international law.

“One thing that has been disheartening to me as one of the newest United States Senators is to hear some of my colleagues immediately start being the mouthpiece of a criminal, without understanding the historical facts that led us to this day, and without understanding the law that allows the United States to go after a drug trafficker,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, is among those Democrats calling the action into question and suggesting it was an act of war, not a law enforcement operation.

“They’re saying they were going to occupy a foreign country. We’re going to run it from the United States,” Gallego told NBC News. “Therefore, it is illegal. Let us be clear, this is a war of choice. We’re lucky it has gone as well as it has so far.”

But Moody noted that the U.S. during President Donald Trump’s first administration secured indictments against Maduro and other figures in his government for playing an active role in international drug cartels.

“Do not become the mouthpiece of our foreign adversaries,” Moody said. “Shame on you.”

Moody said Venezuelan sovereignty wasn’t a concern in an operation to apprehend an international criminal who illegitimately clung to power.

Most international observers say Maduro did not legitimately win a 2024 re-election vote against opposition candidate Edmundo González. But his government threw out results and swore him into a new term last year.

“The Venezuelan people have lived under a dictator who is a criminal, a drug trafficker, who went through position after position in Venezuela and used those positions for his own profit, for his cronies, and he hides out in that government,” Moody said.

“He was never the legitimate leader. He is not the rightful President. Indeed, he is a criminal that has now been brought here to the United States to face justice as we should have been.”

Moody said she has personally spoken to DEA Administrator Terrence Cole, who said morale is high in the agency after years of making the case against Maduro.