CIA intel reveals hardliners Trump secretly backed ahead of Venezuela ouster

Classified CIA intel reveals President Donald Trump is backing Nicolás Maduro's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to lead Venezuela, snubbing Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, according to a new report.

The spy agency assessed that Rodríguez, along with hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, could best maintain stability if the strongman lost power, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Trump got the briefing and made his controversial call.