We the People’s Weapon: Letters of Marque Against the Cartel Rig
Republished with permission from David Clements.
IN THE SHADOWED DAWN of January 3, 2026, the chains of justice clanged shut on Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan despot captured by U.S. Delta Force amid precision strikes that shattered his regime’s grip. Once the untouchable head of the Cartel of the Suns, with a $15 million bounty on his crown—whispered in some circles as fifty for the full haul—he now sits in American custody, his wife Cilia Flores beside him, en route to prosecution in New York.
This fallen kingpin, who weaponized Smartmatic’s rigged code to poison elections from Caracas to American battlegrounds, will have a chance to sing a desperate aria over the global theft of votes, exposing the trillions in narco-wealth that fueled hybrid invasions of borders and ballots alike.
As his empire crumbles, remaining cartel members will seek to fill the void, but even his replacement-plunderers now face the real knowledge, that the United States is once again powerful enough to drag a wicked man from his den, no matter where that den is hidden. Maduro tried to play tough guy, called Trump a coward and dared the U.S. to come get him. Trump called his bluff, stating Maduro has “offered everything. You’re right, you know why? Because he doesn’t wanna fuck around with the United States.”
Now I ask, can “We the People” help put the final nail in the cartel’s coffin?
The Bible tells us there is nothing new under the sun. And when a nation’s shepherds stray into wickedness—the land lies open to plunder. The ancient scrolls bear witness: kings like Ahab, married Jezebel, a Phoenician princess who brought Baal worship, a Canaanite fertility god involving child sacrifice and temple prostitution. Ahab allowed Baal temples to be built, persecuted prophets of God.
King Ahaz sacrificed sons to Molech, shuttered the temple, and paid tribute to Assyria, whose hands rifled Judah’s treasures. King Manasseh was the longest-reigning and most wicked king of Judah. He rebuilt pagan altars, practiced witchcraft, astrology, and child sacrifice, and tradition says he had the prophet Isaiah sawn in half. His sins were so severe that the prophets declared Judah’s destruction inevitable (2 Kings 21:10–15).
In such hours, when government is given over to evil, infiltrated by alien gods and corrupt pacts, the Lord raises prophets from the margins—Elijah thundering fire on Carmel, Ezekiel naming the faithless shepherds who feed only themselves. These truth-tellers confronted the thrones of their day, called the people back, and became vessels of redemption when rulers failed the covenant.
So, it stands today. Shadows veil the Republic’s halls. We the Taxpayer have been
thoroughly betrayed by our parasitic “representative” shepherds. Oh, how they feed themselves. DOGE clawed deep, unearthing alarming rot: Elon Musk stated tens of millions of dead marked alive in Social Security databases, enabling fraud across programs; billions bled yearly in phantom benefits, highlighting how such loopholes attract illegal immigrants through entitlement scams. Millions of noncitizens issued
SSNs, infiltrating voter rolls to enable fraud, with Democratic strategies to
retain power through unchecked immigration.
Agencies sworn to guard the vote and borders faltered, captured by globalist currents. CISA, once weaponized in the soft coup against Trump, still bears corruption’s scars—vestiges linger through Atlantic Council ties, consensus forged to censor Americans, shielding the deep state over the people.
Even with Maduro’s capture, the remnant of the Venezuelan cartel can still weave Smartmatic code into LibertyVote/Dominion/Hart/ES&S veins, flipping tallies like ancient looters sacking temples. Physical invasion surges, Tren de Aragua coiling north, though missiles have found their mark. All while digital piracy drains the will of the people. Minnesota’s phantom Somali daycares, with millions syphoned from you and I, stand empty, echoing the foreign despoilers that bled the Old Testament flock; federal funds frozen only after viral cries from private watchmen.
Truth-tellers rise now—citizens like Nick Shirley, a door-knocking shepherd exposing billions in fraud. No children to be found. Just Somali rats building nests. Digital prostitution of U.S. citizen funds and Minnesota’s continued reign as a beacon for late term abortion, reveals that the spirit of Ahab and Jezebel is alive and well.
So, what happens when a government so overrun by corruption is unable to stave off Somali pirates that sail—not on the open seas—but government programs? What happens when a Congress that should be assisting the President in repelling a cartel invasion, is largely bankrolled or selected by the cartel’s election devices?
You stop placing your hope in the state, and in a weapon that uses the private citizenry to solve the government’s failures.
And that’s the topic for today:
We the People’s Weapon: Letters of Marque Against the Cartel Rig
Letters of marque emerge as the people’s tool, a constitutional blade for We the People when government proves unworthy. Legal documents issued by governments to private ships or individuals, authorizing them to attack enemy vessels and seize cargo (prizes) as acts of war, without being labeled pirates. The problem we face right out the gate, is that the tool is Constitutionally delegated to a Congress that is on the “ActBlue” and “WinRed” money laundering take.
I’ll provide a brief history lesson, but understand this tool won’t be approved unless it is buried and overlooked by a Congress that’s all too comfortable with passing legislation it doesn’t read. Recall Nancy Pelosi’s famous words: “We have to pass the Bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”
Letters of marque were forged in old fury: monarchs issued “warrants” (early letters) allowing victims of foreign theft to seize equivalent property in reprisal during peacetime, while “marque” applied to wartime actions. Over time, the distinctions “blurred,” leading to widespread use. In the Renaissance (15th–17th centuries), these became tools for naval warfare: English privateer Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540–1596) raided Spanish treasure fleets under Queen Elizabeth I’s letters, gutting armadas and towing prizes back for the crown.
Similarly, France targeted Britain, turning fishermen into raiders on ocean waves. It was a thrifty option because private investors funded ships, crews risked storms, and rulers took only a small cut (e.g., 10–20% in Britain). This system allowed weak navies to punch above their weight economically.
America adopted the practice. In 1775, amid the Revolutionary War while redcoats occupied American sod, Massachusetts issued the first colonial letters. Captain Jeremiah O’Brien captured a British lumber ship off Machias, Maine—the war’s first naval victory. By 1776, the Continental Congress issued blank forms, commissioning 2,000 privateers who captured 1,800 British vessels, outpacing the small Continental
Navy, bankrupting merchants, and forcing British convoys to spread thin.
George Washington and Benjamin Franklin praised them as essential. Under the Articles of Confederation (1777–1789), peacetime issuance required nine states’ approval, while wartime allowed states to act—but with risks of uncontrolled conflicts.
Framers forged it firm. Article I, Section 8: Congress launches war, confers letters,
dictates grabs on earth and tide. Section 10 barred states—no maverick flares
torching global pyres. Privateers posted bonds to ensure lawful conduct. Presidents distributed them on cue. In the Quasi-War (1798–1800), John Adams armed merchants against French “prowlers” (privateers), capturing 80 vessels without ground troops.
Thomas Jefferson used them in the Barbary Wars (1801–1805, 1815) against Tripoli pirates, seizing ships and freeing captives. James Madison in the War of 1812 commissioned 1,600 privateers, capturing 2,000 British prizes, driving insurance rates up 30% and crippling trade from Nova Scotia (Halifax) to English ports. Abraham
Lincoln considered them in the Civil War (1861–1865) but opted for a blockade to
avoid recognizing the Confederacy as a sovereign enemy.
The cut ran true. Privateers weren’t pirates because letters protected them in admiralty courts where judges fairly valued captures. Incentives included bounties for
prisoners and cargo shares, growing military power without draining treasuries.
Decline came with 19th-century tech: steam engines and ironclad ships favored
professional navies. The Paris Declaration (1856) abolished privateering among signatories like Britain, France, and Russia. The U.S. refused due to its small navy. Last issued in the 1860s (Civil War era), archived thereafter; prize money ended in 1899. Hague Conventions (1899, 1907) condemned mercenaries. The power remains
constitutional but dormant.
Phantoms nudge it conscious now. In 2012, Somali piracy saw 297 global attacks, costing billions in ransoms and disruptions. Proposals called for arming merchants to seize pirate boats. This inspired “cyberteers”—private cyber firms countering hacks under a 2012 framework: DHS oversight, probable cause for tracking, evidence for attacks. In 2025, Sen. Mike Lee introduced the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Act in
December, authorizing letters against cartel aggression, endorsed by Trump for
sea operations. Rep. Tim Burchett’s House bill (H.R. 1238) targeted drug vessels and aircraft. Critics warned of piracy revival and escalation. By late 2025, it simmered in committees as a tool for hybrid warfare.
Cartels grow as a disease. The Cartel of the Suns fuses military officers with drug
lords, trafficking 400 tons of drugs yearly (cocaine fentanyl, meth). Revenues: $5–8 billion annually, trillions accumulated through mining, oil siphoning, and crypto. Illicit activities were 15% of Venezuela’s GDP in 2022, half its exports. Until yesterday, Nicolás Maduro led it; U.S. Treasury sanctioned him in July 2025, now he’s under lock and key. Affiliated Tren de Aragua—prison-born—spreads to the U.S., tainting soil.
DHS deported members in October 2025; indictments for ATM scams. Denver raids netted dozens. Sanctions hit leader Niño Guerrero in July. Wealth hides in offshore havens, Miami real estate, jets. At least a dozen leaders (e.g., Maduro, Diosdado Cabello) have personal fortunes exceeding the CIA’s $15–20 billion budget, with $2.7 trillion laundered globally, funding hacks and drug influxes.
Your right to vote is being trapped and twisted by hidden forces. As exposed in “Stolen Elections” by author Ralph Pezzullo and Gary Berntsen, a 23-year CIA veteran who ran covert operations. They spent years and millions of dollars investigating with whistleblowers. The Cartel of the Suns and Maduro’s regime pioneered undetectable fraud via Smartmatic software in the 2004 Venezuelan referendum, rigging the count to keep Chavez in power with Cuban backing—remote alterations, erased audits, fake ballots inserted.
This narco-funded tech, seeded with cartel billions from cocaine empires, spread to 71 countries, including U.S. 2020 elections through Dominion links, with cartel trillions laundering bribes and hacks to flip votes in key states via China-made machines and Serbian servers. Cartels subsidize the canker—they hide the money through fake charities and foundations and buy companies that look legitimate. Fentanyl is so deadly the U.S. government already calls it a weapon of mass destruction. The cartels are using it as a weapon against America.
This is no longer just crime—it’s war. Legal doors are now wide open. Foreign interference in U.S. elections is a serious federal crime. Penalty: up to 20 years in prison. Because cartels and foreign governments are doing it together, Congress can legally declare it an act of war—and issue letters of marque to let private citizens and companies fight back.
Now war-game the path for a cyber enterprise to halt this piracy legally.
Step one: Legally deploy private companies against cartels. Congress would pass a customized law based on Sen. Mike Lee’s 2025 Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act (which targets drug cartels on the high seas), but expand to include cyber threats. By labeling cartel election interference as “an act of war,” it activates constitutional powers for letters of marque. The President then issues the letter to a screened company such as xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, or some more worthy company that sees the problem clearly. The firm posts a $10 million bond to follow rules, preventing abuse. It’s a way to outsource cyber defense without full military involvement.
Step two: The company uses the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2026, Section 6805, which requires penetration testing (simulated cyber-attacks to find weaknesses) for U.S. voting machines. A firm that actually knows what the hell they’re doing, not some bought and paid for rubber stamp like Pro V and V or SLI compliance. A real national security firm gets accredited as a lab by the Election Assistance Commission.
They legally test domestic systems for flaws linked to foreign software (e.g., Venezuelan Smartmatic code). This “defensive base” (starting point) then expands internationally under the marque letter, providing protection from the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA, a U.S. law banning unauthorized hacking). It allows “ethical hacks” (controlled intrusions) on cartel servers in Caracas (Venezuela) or “Serbian proxies” (intermediary servers in Belgrade, allegedly used for 2020 vote routing). This bridges domestic election security laws with marque’s offensive authority, turning defense into reprisal without violating U.S. cyber laws. The vetted company uses the Cyber Security Act to do things, frankly, our government can’t do. With never-ending bureaucracy, the government doesn’t innovate like the private sector, it simply steals. Turn the government’s greed against itself. More on that in a second.
Step three: The firm follows online paths—tracking IP addresses jumping from Belgrade servers to Venezuelan hubs. They identify odd patterns like sudden vote surges. AI analyzes records to detect fake votes paid for with cartel cryptocurrency.
Step four: Work with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, U.S. Treasury agency for sanctions) to freeze bank accounts and seize laundered funds. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt hinted at this already occurring, stating: “We have our intelligence community looking into this as well, and even the secretary of Treasury is involved with these matters. Since they are financial and nature, we will continue to get to the bottom of who is funding these organizations.”
Targets: Swiss banks and Cayman Islands shell companies hiding trillions from Venezuelan oil (58% of government revenue), illegal gold mining, and drug trafficking (~$8 billion annual for Cartel of the Suns’ share). OFAC has sanctioned Maduro et al.; this step cuts off funding for rigging and drugs, turning marque into economic warfare. The government can help by making Maduro sing in a plea to save his life.
Prize courts adjudicate: yachts, planes, mansions worth hundreds of millions forfeited, bounties split—firm takes 50%. Here the incentive burns bright, as in old wars where privateers kept 90–100% in the Revolution, depending on navy aid—no seas navigated, but cyber-seas charted, with a firm potentially claiming shares of trillions from those dozen cartel overlords whose fortunes eclipse CIA budgets.
This is the key. Make the incentive big enough for a private firm to take a cyber wrecking ball to the cartel, but leave enough for the greedy bureaucrat to keep blessing the firm’s efforts. If the government possessed any virtue, I’d recommend cutting a sizeable check to the American people from the spoils.
Risks? Escalation—Maduro’s replacement retaliates. If cartel strikes back, the designated firms counter with DDoS blocks or data wipes, all sanctioned. Strategically, seizing assets from those dozen cartel titans—would deter Smartmatic code deployment by crippling funding streams, while choking drug invasions at the border, turning private hunters into a wall against hybrid assault.
Letters adapt as needed.
DOGE growled savage under Elon. January 2025 fiat birthed it, Musk at the helm—cut
waste, mandates, and corruption. Musk claimed $150B savings in April over the
shrill cries of the “fact checkers.” The challenges? His advisory role lacked power without Congress. Musk resigned May 28, 2025; efforts slowed, spending rose from $6.29T to $6.66T in FY2025. Fraud hunts stalled. DOGE aimed at $2T cuts but achieved far less.Musk left amid scrutiny. The biggest challenge would be the cartel bought Congress itself.
Citizen efforts fill gaps. Nick Shirley, 23-year-old YouTuber, released a December 2025 video exposé on Minnesota’s fraud. Approximately $9B stolen from $18B federal programs since 2018. Video went viral with 90M views, prompting FBI surge in Minneapolis. People succeeded where government failed. Think Dunkirk’s historical citizen heroism where civilians rescued 338K troops when the military failed. Or in Lexington (1775), when minutemen fought the British without an army; or New Orleans (1815), where volunteers defeated the British when federal support lagged. Letters called forth bold shepherds, turning whistleblowers into asset-seizers, saving the Republic from physical and digital attacks.
I end with this. The biggest pirates of them all occupy the nation’s capitol(s). The U.S. politician is slime incarnate. Inside traders. Money launderers. Maggots. When political shepherds fail and wickedness reigns, inviting foreign plunder as judgment, God raises unlikely voices and hands to save. The letter of marque stands ready—We the People’s commission, bypassing infiltrated gates, to reclaim the Republic’s sovereignty. I pray the fog lifts. Machines fall silent. The hunt awakens. The land endures. But before we pray anew, let’s give praise for a prayer just answered. Nicolas Maduro, a king in the election rig, is no more. Praise God.
David K. Clements is a seasoned attorney, former law professor, filmmaker and dedicated advocate for election integrity and constitutional rights. If you think he’s on to something, consider being a monthly sponsor of his independent journalism at:
Substack:
The post DAVID CLEMENTS: We the People’s Weapon – Letters of Marque Against the Cartel Rig appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.