Trump says he authorized CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela
Trump says he authorized CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela
President Trump announced he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The move comes after a series of U.S. military strikes on boats that U.S. officials say were from Venezuela and claim were carrying drugs, but there is no firm evidence of that. CBS News’ Weijia Jiang reports.
Read the full article on CBS World
Truth Analysis
Analysis Summary:
The article is mostly accurate, confirming Trump's authorization of CIA covert operations in Venezuela. The bias is moderate, with a slight slant evident in the phrasing regarding the US military strikes and the lack of 'firm evidence' of drug trafficking. The core claim is well-supported by multiple sources.
Detailed Analysis:
- Claim: President Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
- Verification Source #1: Confirms Trump affirmed authorizing the CIA to take action in Venezuela.
- Verification Source #2: Confirms Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.
- Verification Source #3: Confirms Trump authorized CIA covert operations in Venezuela.
- Verification Source #4: States the Trump administration authorized covert CIA action.
- Verification Source #5: States the Trump administration secretly authorized the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela.
- Assessment: Supported by all sources.
- Claim: The move comes after a series of U.S. military strikes on boats that U.S. officials say were from Venezuela and claim were carrying drugs.
- Verification Source #4: Mentions the Trump administration's authorization of covert CIA action, conducting lethal strikes on boats.
- Verification Source #5: Does not mention the strikes on boats.
- Assessment: Partially supported. Source 4 mentions lethal strikes on boats, but source 5 does not cover this aspect. The claim about the boats carrying drugs is qualified in the original article.
- Claim: There is no firm evidence of the boats carrying drugs.
- Verification Source #1: Not covered in this source.
- Verification Source #2: Not covered in this source.
- Verification Source #3: Not covered in this source.
- Verification Source #4: Not covered in this source.
- Verification Source #5: Not covered in this source.
- Assessment: Unverified by the provided sources, but the original article phrases this as a claim by US officials, which is then qualified.
Supporting Evidence/Contradictions:
- Source 3: Asked by CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe why he did so, the president said he had two reasons: First, "they have emptied ..."
- Source 5: The Trump administration has secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela ...