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Judi Lynn

(160,448 posts)
Wed May 6, 2020, 02:13 AM May 2020

Trump denies ties to Venezuelan attack with 2 US men jailed

Source: Associated Press

Scott Smith and Joshua Goodman, Associated Press
Updated 11:15 pm CDT, Tuesday, May 5, 2020



Photo: Matias Delacroix, AP
IMAGE 1 OF 3
Security forces guard the shore area and a boat in which authorities claim a group of armed men landed in the port city of La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday, May 3, 2020. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said on state television that security forces overcame before dawn Sunday an armed maritime incursion with speedboats from neighboring Colombia in which several attackers were killed and others detained.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States had nothing to do with an alleged incursion into Venezuela that landed two U.S. citizens behind bars in the crisis-stricken South American nation.

Trump said he had just learned of the detention of the pair, accused by Venezuela of being mercenaries. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said they were part of an operation to kill him that was backed by neighboring Colombia and the United States.

“Whatever it is, we’ll let you know,” Trump told reporters in Washington before departing from the White House to Arizona. “But it has nothing to do with our government.”

Authorities in Venezuela identified the two men as Luke Denman and Airan Berry, both former U.S. special forces soldiers associated with the Florida-based private security firm Silvercorp USA. Military records show both decorated soldiers served in Iraq.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Trump-denies-ties-to-Venezuelan-attack-with-2-US-15248376.php

19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump denies ties to Venezuelan attack with 2 US men jailed (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2020 OP
I hereby dub this "Stupid Normandy" (nt) mr_lebowski May 2020 #1
Bay of pugs ucrdem May 2020 #3
Dumbass Dieppe! Crowman2009 May 2020 #11
Maduro is a tough one. ucrdem May 2020 #2
So, who owns Silvercorp USA? B Stieg May 2020 #4
Just discovered this article which has info. I hadn't seen before! Judi Lynn May 2020 #5
Thanks! There's a Wikipedia entry already! B Stieg May 2020 #6
Wow, that was fast! Thanks. n/t Judi Lynn May 2020 #8
1. Did they ever get paid or did Trump stiff them? Danascot May 2020 #18
2 more dead people added to Death Count Donnie's tally? Brainfodder May 2020 #7
Agents without portfolio bucolic_frolic May 2020 #9
+1 2naSalit May 2020 #14
Which means he definitely did it. lark May 2020 #10
I guess these two idiots forgot what Orange Oompah Loompah said about POWs. Crowman2009 May 2020 #12
This is what happens when one denies everything. Now I don't believe him. marble falls May 2020 #13
Considering what a messed up clown show we have in office... 2naSalit May 2020 #15
who believes anything trump says? it means zilch. samsingh May 2020 #16
Really? Falcata May 2020 #17
These two "mercenaries" are probably going to be put to death. nt Progressive Jones May 2020 #19

Judi Lynn

(160,448 posts)
5. Just discovered this article which has info. I hadn't seen before!
Wed May 6, 2020, 03:00 AM
May 2020

~ snip ~

Silvercorp appears to have provided security at Trump events

The Trump administration — gung-ho for the removal of Maduro during a power struggle last year led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó — may not be thrilled to learn that Silvercorp apparently did security for the president’s rallies in 2018. Though the photo has been taken down, Vice News grabbed a screenshot of an Instagram post showing what appears to be the backstage at Trump’s October 2018 rally in Charlotte, with the caption “Protecting our Greatest Assets.” The Associated Press has also confirmed that the company’s head Jordan Goudreau accompanied the president’s longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller to a meeting with Guaido’s representatives in May 2019 in Miami. While the president frequently employs private security at his events, on Tuesday he denied any involvement with the plot.

More:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/dumbest-aspects-of-the-mercenary-coup-plot-in-venezuela.html

Danascot

(4,689 posts)
18. 1. Did they ever get paid or did Trump stiff them?
Wed May 6, 2020, 04:32 PM
May 2020

2. NYMag misreported the picture caption. It was actually “Protecting our Greatest Asshole"

lark

(23,059 posts)
10. Which means he definitely did it.
Wed May 6, 2020, 08:13 AM
May 2020

When my kids were little they like to play "opposite day" or "opposite game" all the time. He does the same, only it's no game for us, it's deadly serious and murderous. They chose when to play this, every time he opens his ugly little assmoiuth, all that comes out is lies.

2naSalit

(86,312 posts)
15. Considering what a messed up clown show we have in office...
Wed May 6, 2020, 09:45 AM
May 2020

I can absolutely see this being a Jared led event, right down to the measly $50K allegedly funding this debacle. It's not like those two will be released or even an attempt made to get them released unless there can be some mastermind* plot to make this uglier.

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