Once you ignore the fact that this move is illegitimate under international law, it starts looking rather clever. Which tells me it was one of his string pullers running this.
Low risk - poor and struggling country means lots of people willing to sell information, especially with the unpopularity of Maduro. Probably some of the easiest to obtain and most detailed intelligence we had on any unfriendly country. Not to mention Venezuela is toothless militarily, possessing outdated Russian equipment that is completely ineffective against US arms.
Hard to criticize - again, other than the whole huge it's illegal part - it's hard to speak out against this without risking being framed as supporting Maduro. Maduro is a nasty piece of work who has held on to power with a sham election and brutal oppression. His countries economy has rotted away under his tenure, and millions have fled. He is tied to US drug trafficking (though hardly the biggest fish in that large ocean). It takes a nuanced argument to explain why this was still a bad thing even though we quickly and cleanly removed a total bastard from power. The majority of this country is too stupid or disinterested for a nuanced explanation.
It's also a big slap in the face to both Russia and China. Russia's been trying to bring Ukraine back under their wing since 2014, ever since the Euromaidan kicked out their old puppet government. The US cleanly and relatively bloodlessly decapitating an unfavorable regime overnight rubs Russia's nose in the gap between their capabilities and ours. China has spend tens of billions (upwards of $100 billion by some estimates) propping up Venezuela in exchange for future oil promises, access, and influence. That's a lot of money potentially down the tube.
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