Maduro's lawyer says U.S. blocking Venezuelan government from paying ousted leader's legal fees

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. In:

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.