Latest news with #TheJusticeDept
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
US doubles reward for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's arrest to $50m
The United States has doubled the reward announced for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million. US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday announced the 'historic increase' in reward money for arrest of Maduro, who is accused of being 'one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world'. 'He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,' Bondi said in a video posted on X. 'Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,' she added. Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025 63-year-old Maduro who has been the President of Venezuela since 2013, has had a hostile relationship with the US, which worsened further under the Trump administration. Maduro, who began his career as a bus driver and then a trade union leader, was the handpicked successor of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who passed away in March 2013. He has been accused of rigging the elections in Venezuela to stay in power and silencing dissent. During the first Trump presidency, the US Department of Justice had accused Maduro of working with the Colombian rebel group FARC to 'flood the US with cocaine'. The US has accused Maduro of having direct links with crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which are involved in drug trafficking and other organised crimes. According to Bondi, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had 'seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself'. Reacting to the US doubling the reward money on Maduro, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said the move did not come as a surprise and claimed that it was an attempt to create a distraction from the Epstein files controversy. 'It does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent 'secret list' of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,' he said in a post on Telegram.
UPI
5 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
U.S. increases bounty to $50M for Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro
The Trump administration on Thursday increased the bounty to $50 million for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. File Photo by Ronald Pena R./EPA-EFE Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The United States on Thursday doubled its bounty for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million, ramping up pressure on the authoritarian leader that began during the first Trump administration. The U.S. Departments of State and Justice announced the increased reward, stating that the fortune will go to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro. Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025 In a recorded statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was an "historic" reward, accusing Maduro of using drug cartels that the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorists to smuggle narcotics -- and violence -- into the United States. The Drug Enforcement Administration has seized 30 tons of cocaine that Bondi said is connected to Maduro and his associates and nearly 7 tons linked directly to the Venezuelan president, Bondi said, adding that her Justice Department has confiscated some $700 million of Maduro-linked assets, including two private jets. "He is one of the largest narcotraffickers in the world, and a threat to our national security," she said. "Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes." Venezuela has rebuked the accusations, with Caracas' foreign minister, Yvan Gil Pinto, describing the Trump administration's reward as "pathetic" and "the most ridiculous smoke screen we have ever seen." "This lady puts on a media circus to please Venezuela's defeated far right," he said in a statement on Telegram, referring to Bondi. "Her show is a joke -- a desperate distraction from her own miseries. The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We repudiate this crude political propaganda operation." Maduro was a target of the first Trump administration's failed so-called maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and political pressure to coerce the Venezuelan leader to step down after his re-election to another six-year term in late 2018 was deemed illegitimate. In 2020, the United States charged Maduro, and other members of his regime, with being a leader of the Cartel de los Soles Venezuelan drug-smuggling gang, with the State Department at the time offering up to $15 million for information that could lead to his arrest and conviction. That bounty was then increased to $25 million during the final days of the Biden administration, which had tried to usher in a democratic shift in the country, in retaliation as evidence showed he had lost the July 2024 presidential election. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has led an administration focused on the border and immigration, seeking to stop migrants and drugs entering the United States and working to deport migrants already here. Latin American gangs have been a focus of this effort, with the State Department in February designating five of them, including the Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terorrists. Trump then in a mid-March executive order claimed that TDA was "perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States," in order to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to mass-deport Venezuelans -- a move that has since been blocked by the courts.
Shafaq News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Washington offers $50M to capture Venezuela's Maduro
Shafaq News – Washington On Thursday, the United States announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world's most notorious drug traffickers. US Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Maduro, in a video on X, of collaborating with transnational criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, adding that the US seized 30 tons of cocaine and over $700 million in assets tied to the Venezuelan president. Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025 Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the declaration. The new reward doubles a previous offer of $25 million issued by the US Department of State under the Narcotics Rewards Program, which targets foreign nationals involved in major international drug trafficking operations. Washington has long accused Maduro of turning Venezuela into a narco-state, using state institutions and military assets to protect and profit from illicit drug routes. Maduro has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming they are part of a political campaign to undermine his presidency.
The Hill
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
DOJ drops charges against Utah doctor accused of throwing away COVID vaccines, distributing fake vaccination cards
The Justice Department moved to dismiss charges against a Utah plastic doctor charged in connection with a COVID-19 fraud scheme, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Saturday. Michael Kirk Moore Jr. and three of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023 and accused of discarding more than $28,000 worth of government-provided COVID-19 vaccines and of distributing nearly two thousand fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards in exchange for cash or required 'donations.' The indictment also alleged that Moore and his associates administered saline shots to children, at the request of the parents, so the children would think they were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The trial began a week ago in Salt Lake City, but Bondi announced Saturday that the DOJ would dismiss the charges. 'At my direction @TheJusticeDept has dismissed charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,' Bondi wrote in a post on the social platform X. 'Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,' she continued. 'He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.' The case has become a rallying cry for many in the GOP, who have railed against the charges filed under the Biden administration. The announcement also comes as Bondi has faced growing scrutiny by members of Trump's right-wing base for her handling of the case related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ put out a memo on Monday concluding there was no so-called client list that Epstein kept to blackmail high-profile associates, refuting popular conspiracy theories suggesting otherwise. The memo also said there was no evidence to suggest foul play was involved in Epstein's death, which had previously been ruled a suicide. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) thanked Bondi for 'dropping the WRONGFUL charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,' whom Greene called 'a hero who refused to inject his patients with a government mandated unsafe vaccine!' 'We can never again allow our government to turn tyrannical under our watch,' she continued. 'Thankfully, as soon as I told Pam Bondi about Dr. Moore's case she swiftly moved to drop the charges against him. This is a big win!' Bondi acknowledged the role Greene played in the decision. 'This would not have been possible without @RepMTG who brought this case to my attention. She has been a warrior for Dr. Moore and for ending the weaponization of government,' Bondi wrote in a subsequent post on X. She also thanked Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), saying on X he 'has been a champion for advocating to end the weaponization of government, including to Dr. Moore.'
New York Post
13-07-2025
- New York Post
DOJ drops charges against Utah surgeon accused of injecting fake COVID-19 shots and destroying $28K of real vaccines
The Justice Department dropped charges against a Utah doctor accused of pocketing nearly $100,000 from anti-vaxxers for fake COVID-19 shots – all while destroying thousands of dollars' worth of real vaccines. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Saturday that she directed her department to drop the case against Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, who had been charged with conspiracy to defraud the government and other offenses, arguing that he 'did not deserve' the 35-year prison sentence he was facing. 'At my direction @TheJusticeDept has dismissed charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,' Bondi posted on X. Advertisement 3 AG Pam Bondi directed the Justice Department to drop charges against Dr. Kirk Moore. AFP via Getty Images 'Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.' Moore, along with two of his staffers and a neighbor, was initially charged in 2023 for distributing at least 1,900 fake COVID-19 vaccination records from his Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc. office in Midvale in exchange for nearly $97,000 or donations. Advertisement Prosecutors alleged that Moore, a board certified plastic surgeon, injected some children with saline shots, at their parents request, instead of the immunization jab before sending them off with the phony vax cards. 3 Dr. Michael Kirk Moore allegedly doled out saline shots to children of anti-vaxxers in exchange for cash. Plastic Surgery Institute of Ut The indictment, obtained by The Post, claimed that Moore and his neighbor, Kristin Jackson Anderson, were part of a secret group aimed to 'liberate the medical profession from government and industry conflicts of interest.' To pull it off, the duo teamed up with officer manager Kari Dee Burgoyne and receptionist Sandra Flores to trash $28,000 worth of government-provided vaccines, prosecutors alleged. Advertisement The foursome, as well as the medical office, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the US; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property; and conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property and aiding and abetting. 3 Kari Dee Burgoyne, the officer manager, was also charged in the alleged scheme. Plastic Surgery Institute of Ut It's unclear whether charges against the other members of the alleged scheme have also been dropped. The move by the federal agency comes just days after Moore's expected two-week trial began Monday in Salt Lake city with jury selection. Advertisement Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been criticized for his approach to vaccines and peddling unproven treatments, voiced his support for Moore back in April – declaring that he 'deserves a medal for his courage and his commitment to healing!' Acting US Attorney for Utah Felice John Viti filed a motion Saturday stating that dismissing the case is in the 'interests of justice.' With Post wires.
