The Trump administration on Friday opposed a request to dismiss the US criminal case against former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Maduro and Flores last month requested the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the government had improperly prevented them from using Venezuelan government funds to defend themselves.
In a court filing, the Trump administration argued that Maduro and his wife are free to use their personal funds, including jointly held funds, to pay their legal fees, but are not free to use funds 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 defendants an exemption from those restrictions: authorization to use their individual (and joint) funds to pay their attorneys’ fees,” the government wrote. “However, OFAC has rejected defendants’ request for an additional exception: allowing them to pay their legal fees from a sanctioned government-controlled slush fund.”
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said in a court filing last month that OFAC had approved the license sought by Maduro and Flores in January. The license was required to authorize money transfers due to sanctions against Venezuela.
But the government argued that OFAC had granted broad authorization by administrative error and then amended the license.
Lawyers for Maduro and Flores did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Maduro and Flores were captured in a US military operation and brought to the US to face criminal charges. The pair were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of a machine gun and destructive device. Maduro faces additional federal charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
The indictment against Maduro and his alleged co-conspirators states that they “for decades, have partnered with some of the world’s most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists, and have relied on corrupt officials throughout the region to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States.”
Maduro and Flores have pleaded innocent to all charges. Maduro is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.