Does a viral image show a real news report saying that U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office "tried to tip off" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro before his capture? No, that's not true: No such report could be found. Neither CBS News, nor any other media outlet published news of such a leak.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on January 3, 2026. It showed an image that read:
Washington D.C. - January 3, 2026 In a triumphant display of President Trump's unyielding resolve for national security, the Department of National Intelligence (DNI) under Director Tulsi Gabbard has revealed CIA intelligence exposing a desperate Democratic attempt to sabotage a U.S. military operation. A brave whistleblower from within the DNI provided documents to CBS News, showing how Democratic leadership, traced back to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' office, tried to tip off Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro about an impending capture mission. However, the warning arrived moments too late, Maduro was already in U.S. custody, being flown away in a military helicopter after a flawless operation. President Trump's strategic appointment of Gabbard has been key in unearthing this treachery, proving once again his administration's prowess in neutralizing threats both foreign and domestic.
This is what it looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at x.com/realpersonpltcs)
Searches across media reports in Google News' index of thousands of news sites (archived here) and Yahoo News' index of its publishing partners and news services (archived here) did not yield anything matching what the viral image said.
Contrary to the claim, a search (archived here) for the specific language from the picture didn't lead to any CBS News report -- it only showed duplicates of the claim on social media.
Lead Stories additionally searched the CBS News website, but it did not show the purported article or video report, either.
Maduro and his wife were captured (archived here) in Venezuela by the U.S. on January 3, 2026. They were moved to New York City and indicted (archived here) with drug crimes.
