On October 25, 2019, Blumenthal was arrested and charged with assault in a case related to a May 7 incident at the embassy of Venezuela, Washington, D.C. Blumenthal said his arrest was "clearly part of a campaign of political persecution designed to silence me and "The Grayzone" for our factual journalism exposing the deceptions, corruption and violence of the far-right Venezuelan opposition". The US Department of Justice dropped the case against Blumenthal in December 2019. In May 2020, Blumenthal said on "The Jimmy Dore Show" that George Soros is funding anti-government protesters in Venezuela, as well as in Hong Kong.