The Trump administration has moved to block the Venezuelan government from covering the legal expenses of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as he fights federal charges in New York, Maduro’s attorney said in a court filing.
In a Feb. 20 letter to U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollack wrote that the U.S. was preventing the Venezuelan government from paying his client’s defense costs. “The government of Venezuela has an obligation to pay Mr. Maduro’s fees. Mr. Maduro has a legitimate expectation that the government of Venezuela would do so, and Mr. Maduro cannot otherwise afford counsel,” Pollack wrote.
Pollack said the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known as OFAC, initially granted licenses for Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 9 but that Maduro’s license was later amended “without explanation” to bar the Venezuelan government from paying his defense. Flores’ license was not affected, Pollack wrote. He said OFAC is “interfering with Mr. Maduro’s ability to retain counsel” and is violating his Sixth Amendment right to counsel of his choice.
Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty in federal court in New York on Jan. 5, days after U.S. forces captured them at the presidential palace in Venezuela, according to Pollack’s filing. The U.S. military conducted an operation in Caracas on Jan. 3, and Maduro was flown to New York, where he is being held in a federal jail, the filing said.
Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores faces charges of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Fox News Digital reported it reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Treasury Department for comment.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
