Airmen hold up the Vermont National Guard flag as two F-35 fighter jets arrive at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington on Sept. 19, 2019. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott said Wednesday that President Donald Trump needs to consult with C ongress before further escalating the United States’ military campaign against Venezuela, which as of this week, has killed more than 90 people. Scott’s comments came as the Vermont Air National Guard was “actively deploying” on Wednesday, according to a guard spokesperson.  Late last week, defense industry blog The War Zone reported that Vermont’s 158th Fighter Wing and its F-35A fighter jets were slated to head to the Caribbean as part of Operation Southern Spear, a development later referenced by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. The president has ordered the U.S. military to ramp up pressure on Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration has blamed for an influx of migrants to the United States. That pressure has coincided with military preparations in the region.  “We’ll see whether it’s just saber rattling — and I’m hopeful that we’re not actually going to war with anyone,” Scott told reporters about Trump’s actions. “But if we are going to war, then that’s something that the president should share with Congress.” On Tuesday, Trump ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” traveling to the South American country. The U.S. has carried out 20 deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats near Latin America in recent months, actions that critics have widely panned as illegal under international law. The U.S. Senate passed a bill Wednesday that could compel the Pentagon to turn over footage of recent strikes. The measure, which passed with bipartisan support, was included in a larger annual defense spending package. The legislation cleared the House with similar bipartisan support last week. All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation voted against the legislation. In statements, Welch and Democratic Rep. Becca Balint said their opposition stemmed from the amount of money appropriated in the legislation for defense spending, which is about $900 billion. Welch, Balint and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have all condemned Trump’s military buildup near Venezuela in recent weeks and the recent boat strikes. READ MORE Green Mountain Boys or New England Patriots? Many details about the reported deployment of Vermonters to the Caribbean remained unclear Wednesday, fueling questions about aircraft activity at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, which serves as a guard base.  A Boeing 767 bearing the logo of the New England Patriots was spotted at the airport Wednesday morning, bound for Puerto Rico, according to public flight tracker information — the reported destination of the Vermont Guard.  The unusual appearance of a New England Patriots plane in Burlington caught the attention of Clayton Trutor, a Burlington resident, who said in an email Wednesday that he saw a plane bearing the Patriots logo land at the Burlington airport around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. He did not see who or what boarded the plane.  The New England Patriots use two planes, operated by charter service Omni Air International, and the aircrafts are sometimes used for other charter flights. Earlier this year, a Patriots plane flew to and from the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay. The plane left several hours later for Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso.  A flight did leave Burlington bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico — where Vermont’s Air National Guard is reportedly deploying — at 10:47 a.m. Wednesday, according to the flight tracker website FlightAware. That flight involved a Boeing 767 operated by Omni. The airline and plane model match planes used by the New England Patriots.  Webcam footage from the Burlington airport runway showed a plane taking off around that time that appeared to match the New England Patriots jet. Omni and the New England Patriots did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon. Joseph Brooks, the spokesperson for the Vermont guard, did not respond to questions about whether the charter plane was used to transport troops.  “Members of the 158th Fighter Wing in the Vermont Air National Guard are actively deploying personnel and equipment following a federal mobilization under Title 10 authority,” he wrote in an email. “This action places select Airmen and assets in a federal status, directing them to support a national mission as a part of the United States Air Force active component.” Brooks declined to provide specifics about the deployment citing operation security concerns.  A spokesperson for the Burlington airport did not return requests for comment, and Amanda Wheeler, a spokesperson for Scott, said the governor’s office had no knowledge of the flight. Scott told reporters Wednesday that he had little new information to share about the Vermont National Guard’s deployment to the Caribbean. Limited public information about Vermont Air National Guard deployments is not unusual, said state Rep. Michael Morgan, R-Milton, who retired in 2017 from the Vermont Air National Guard as a colonel. He also served as the vice commander of the 158th Fighter Wing. Morgan, who was deployed while serving in the guard, said he had no knowledge of whether the 158th Fighter Wing used a charter plane to fly to Puerto Rico on Wednesday. But he said the practice would not be wholly unusual, pointing to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, or CRAF, which allows the military through contracts to utilize aircrafts from certain U.S. airlines. Read the story on VTDigger here: Gov. Phil Scott says Trump should consult Congress in military buildup near Venezuela. ...read more read less