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The Trump administration has moved to dam the Venezuelan authorities from overlaying the authorized bills of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as he fights federal drug trafficking and weapons costs in New York, in line with a courtroom submitting from his lawyer.
Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, pleaded not responsible in federal courtroom in New York on Jan. 5 to drug trafficking and weapons costs, days after American forces captured them on the presidential palace in Venezuela.
In a letter to U.S. District Choose Alvin Hellerstein, who’s overseeing the case within the Southern District of New York, Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, stated the U.S. was stopping the Venezuelan authorities from overlaying his shopper’s authorized charges.
“The federal government of Venezuela has an obligation to pay Mr. Maduro’s charges. Mr. Maduro has a reputable expectation that the federal government of Venezuela would achieve this, and Mr. Maduro can not in any other case afford counsel,” Pollack wrote.
Nicolás Maduro is seen in handcuffs after touchdown at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by Federal brokers as they make their means into an armored automobile en path to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York Metropolis. (XNY/Star Max/GC Photos)
Within the letter, dated Feb. 20, Pollack argued that underneath “Venezuelan regulation and customized, the federal government of Venezuela pays the bills of the President and First Girl.”
Pollack stated that Maduro and the Venezuelan authorities had been subjected to sanctions by the Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management (OFAC), and his authorized counsel would have to be granted a license to symbolize him and be paid.
Whereas Pollack stated OFAC granted licenses for each Maduro and Flores on Jan. 9, Maduro’s license was amended “with out rationalization” to not enable the Venezuelan authorities to pay for his protection prices.
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Captured Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, seem with their attorneys Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly at their arraignment in a federal courtroom in New York Metropolis on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Jane Rosenberg)
Flores’ license was not impacted, in line with Pollack.
Pollack stated that OFAC is “interfering with Mr. Maduro’s means to retain counsel” and violating his Sixth Modification proper to counsel of his alternative.
Maduro’s lawyer stated OFAC has not responded to his request to reinstate the unique license and threatened to take authorized motion if it continued to take action.
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Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after touchdown at a Manhattan helipad earlier than being escorted to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York Metropolis. (XNY/Star Max/GC Photos)
“If OFAC fails to behave on the request to reinstate the unique license, or denies that request, Mr. Maduro will file a proper movement within the coming days searching for reduction from the Courtroom,” he wrote.
The U.S. army carried out an operation to seize Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3. He was flown to New York, the place he’s being held in a federal jail.
Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine weapons and harmful units, and conspiracy to own machine weapons and harmful units.
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Flores faces three costs: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine weapons and harmful units, and conspiracy to own machine weapons and harmful units.
Fox Information Digital reached out to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York and the Treasury Division for remark.
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