Chloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.
The Trump administration on Friday opposed a request by former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to dismiss their U.S. criminal case. Maduro and Flores asked the court last month to dismiss the case, arguing the government improperly prevented them from using Venezuelan government funds to pay for their defense.
In a court filing, the Trump administration argued that Maduro and his wife remain free to use their personal funds, including jointly held funds, to pay their legal fees, but not money controlled by a separately sanctioned Venezuelan government entity. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers U.S. sanctions against foreign entities, “has granted the defendants an exception to those sanctions: authorization to use their personal funds to pay their attorneys’ fees,” the government wrote. “OFAC, however, has denied the defendants’ request for an additional exception: to allow them to pay their legal fees from a slush fund controlled by a sanctioned government.” Maduro’s attorney Barry Pollack noted in a court filing last month that OFAC had approved licenses sought by Maduro and Flores in January. The licenses were required to authorize funds transfers because of sanctions against Venezuela. But the government argued that OFAC had approved the broader authorization by administrative error and then amended the licenses. Attorneys for Maduro and Flores did not immediately return requests for comment. Maduro and Flores was captured in a U.S. military operation and brought to the U.S. to face criminal charges. The pair were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Maduro faces an additional federal charge of narco-terrorism conspiracy. The indictment against Maduro and his alleged co-conspirators says they have “for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region, to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States.” Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Maduro is being detained in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
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