Federal investigators are interviewing individuals promoting unfounded claims that Venezuela interfered in the 2020 election, intensifying the ongoing probe.
Four sources claim that two conspiracy theorists have provided evidence and witnesses with officials and have frequently briefed W. Stephen Muldrow, the US attorney for the district of Puerto Rico. Muldrow remained silent.
Four sources told the Guardian that in addition to the Puerto Rico negotiations, federal agents for a federal team in Tampa that is investigating money laundering and drug trafficking in Venezuela have interviewed those promoting the plot. The Tampa office of the US attorney declined to comment.
This kind of probe highlights how Trump's law department is turning into a powerful tool in the president's attempts to change the course of his 2020 defeat while possibly bolstering the administration's argument for military action against Venezuela.
Although Donald Trump's 2020 "Stop the Steal" effort was fueled by a number of conspiracy theories, including dead voters, stolen, fake, or forged ballots, and covert computer servers in Germany, Venezuela's alleged influence was always a major point of contention. It claimed that both President Nicolás Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez secretly manipulated electronic voting in the United States.
In addition to being absurd on the surface, a Delaware judge declared it to be untrue in 2023, and Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN subsequently had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for defamation. Essentially, the idea was that Dominion and Smartmatic, who had the contract for computerized voting equipment in Los Angeles.
Gary Berntsen and Martin Rodil are two distinct people at the beginning of the story who say they have been following the election accusations for years. According to reporters Seth Hettena and Jonathan Larsen on Substack, they have turned into sources for the Trump administration and, eventually, investigators, and they have supported two significant accusations regarding Venezuela.
The first theme brings Maduro closer to Tren de Aragua, the street gang that Trump has labeled a terrorist group. The old voting conspiracy and the claims that Venezuela assisted in election manipulation throughout the world were the other main themes that Berntsen and Rodil pushed.
Even before he wrote a book on his search for Osama bin Laden in 2006, Berntsen, a former CIA case officer, gained notoriety.
Berntsen projects the plainspoken demeanor of an expert with field experience battling an intransigent bureaucracy. He is also a fierce champion of Trump and of an invasion of Venezuela.
“I don’t dabble in conspiracy theories,”
Berntsen wrote in a message to the Guardian.
“I spent my life defending our country and constitution. I led many major operations and investigations and saved many lives.”
He added:
“The Department of Justice and FBI and key White House Staff are investigating and coordinating efforts to defend our system and charge those guilty of Stealing Elections and violating other laws accountable for their actions.”
There has been substantial cooperation on the issue, according to people familiar with Muldrow, Berntsen, and Rodil's relationship. They collaborate. Regarding the voting accusations, one of the individuals stated,
"Muldrow has been very receptive."
There have been several briefings in Puerto Rico, according to that source.
One of the few American lawyers to remain employed following Trump's election to the presidency is Muldrow. He was initially nominated by Trump in 2019 and continued to serve under Biden. According to two people who know him, he is an ardent Republican and Trump fan. According to a person who knows Muldrow, he has a positive working connection with Pam Bondi, the current Trump US attorney general, and spent a significant amount of his career in Tampa.
According to a number of sources, Muldrow had provided intelligence to the Panex group, which was now focusing on Venezuela in addition to the drug flow from Colombia.
They claim that this taskforce is now directly collaborating with Rodil and Berntsen.
In response to detailed questions, Muldrow emailed the Guardian:
“In accordance with Department of Justice policies, I am not able to provide you with a comment.”
Rodil told the Guardian that claims pertaining to purported problems with election integrity were not the main focus of the briefings, but rather were tangential to discussions with Muldrow. He objected, claiming that although one witness discussed Smartmatic and election integrity, Muldrow was only interested in a piece of the evidence pertaining to manipulated election results.
How might the probe affect US and international sanctions on Venezuela?
The inquiry strengthens the defense for maintaining and potentially expanding targeted warrants against Venezuelan officers linked to electoral fraud, suppression, and undermining the republic. This includes asset freezes, trip bans, and restrictions aimed at weakening Maduro’s grip on power.
It bolsters transnational calls for responsibility and can motivate increased collaboration among countries to press Maduro’s governance through political and profitable means. The substantiation from the inquiry could lead to fresh designations of individualities and realities involved in election manipulation and suppression, expanding permission lists administered by the US Treasury and others.
Transnational bodies like the UN and the ICC are also likely to use findings from this inquiry to argue for stronger mechanisms to hold Maduro and his abettors responsible, buttressing warrants as part of a broader transnational justice and human rights strategy.