Editor's Desk 
Ex-Trump insider guts ‘shadowy and repellent’ partner behind ‘unconstitutional’ deal
A member of President Donald Trump’s first administration delivered Wednesday a stark warning to his former boss over what he describes as the White House’s “convoluted” plan to deal with a sinister partner.
Elliott Abrams, Trump’s former special representative to Venezuela, in a Washington Post editorial shredded the president’s deal to claim 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil as an “unconstitutional” gambit — and warned he was relying on a dangerous partner to push it through.
“Because major U.S. oil companies have been unwilling to pony up large amounts of cash to invest in Venezuela, Trump has allied the government with the most shadowy and repellent Venezuelan businessman he could find,” wrote Abrams.
“When I served in the first Trump administration as special representative for Venezuela, we knew exactly what [Alejandro] Betancourt stood for and kept him far away from the U.S. government.”
Before delving into his many problems with Betancourt, Abrams details many problems he has with Trump’s oil plan; namely that the agreement is unconstitutional under Venezuelan law that states the deposits belong to the people, who haven’t agreed to it, and U.S. law likely doesn’t allow the Pentagon to enter into the oil trade.
But Betancourt is “worse” than these major legal problems, Abrams writes.
Betancourt, who denies wrongdoing, is under a Swiss arrest warrant for alleged money laundering involving Venezuela’s state oil company and made a fortune under the “corrupt” Hugo Chávez, writes Abrams.
That reportedly hasn’t stopped senior U.S. officials from lobbying to resolve the Switzerland case or inviting Betancourt to Washington for meetings with the administration.
The resultant deal, argues Abrams, is one that will do nothing to ease the pain American drivers feel at the gas pump.
“Hundreds of billions of dollars in investments will be announced — some by grifters looking for special advantages, some by oil companies looking for favor with Trump and some by the president himself,” wrote Abrams.
“The tragedy is that the United States is now the partner to an unelected despot…this oil deal will prove to be the great sellout — of Venezuela’s natural resources and its people’s right to self-government.”
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