The Trump administration is blocking Venezuela’s government from paying for the cost of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s defense against drug trafficking charges in New York, a move that potentially interferes with his constitutional right to counsel, his lawyer says.
Attorney Barry Pollack told a Manhattan federal judge in an email dated Feb. 20 that the U.S. Treasury Department had blocked the authorization of legal fees that the government of Venezuela is required to pay for Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores under its law and custom. The email was entered into the public court record on Wednesday.
Maduro and his wife have been jailed in New York without bail since they were seized from their Venezuelan home Jan. 3 in a stealth nighttime raid by U.S. military forces. They have both pleaded not guilty. Maduro is scheduled to return to federal court for a hearing on March 17.
In the email, Pollack said that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers sanctions against Venezuela, had granted permission on Jan. 9 approving the payment of legal fees by the Venezuelan government.
Less than three hours later, though, the Trump administration snatched back the authorization “without explanation,” though it left in place a license granting permission for Maduro’s wife’s lawyers to be paid, Pollack said.
The dispute over Maduro’s legal fees is intimately linked to U.S. foreign policy. The first Trump administration cut ties with Maduro in 2019, recognizing the then-opposition head of the National Assembly as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The Biden administration hewed closely to the same policy.
Messages seeking comment from the Treasury Department, White House and the Justice Department were not immediately returned.
Allowing the government of Maduro’s replacement, Delcy Rodríguez, his vice president and now Venezuela’s acting president, to pay for the cost of Maduro’s defense could complicate prosecutors’ efforts in court to counter the deposed leader’s argument that his capture was illegal and that as the foreign head of a state he is immune from prosecution under U.S. and international law.
Pollack said he asked the Office of Foreign Assets Control on Feb. 11 to reinstate the original license and clear the way for Venezuela to meet its obligation to pay Maduro’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 in the letter.
Pollack said the U.S. was “interfering with Mr. Maduro’s ability to retain counsel and, therefore, his right under the Sixth Amendment to counsel of his choice.”
A 25-page indictment against Maduro accused him and others of working with drug cartels and members of the military to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. Both he and his wife face life in prison if convicted.
As part of the purported conspiracy, Maduro and his wife allegedly ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money, according to the indictment. It said that included the killing of a local drug boss in Caracas.
Maduro’s stunning capture following a monthslong military buildup in the Caribbean has paved the way for the Trump administration to assert enormous influence over Rodriguez.
Under pressure from the U.S., Rodriguez has moved swiftly to open up Venezuela’s oil industry to American investment, free political prisoners and reestablish direct communications with Washington — something unseen since the first Trump administration shuttered the U.S. embassy in Caracas in 2019. President Trump said Tuesday the U.S. had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from “new friend and partner” Venezuela.
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