Sanctions and the Courts

Maduro’s lawyer says the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revoked a Jan. 9 license that would have allowed Venezuela to pay his U.S. criminal-defense fees — a license Pollack says was granted then withdrawn less than three hours later while a separate license for Cilia Flores remained intact, according to a Feb. 20 court‑filed email. Pollack argues the revocation interferes with Maduro’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel of his choice because he cannot otherwise afford representation and had an expectation that Venezuela would pay, and CBS reports the dispute is entangled with U.S. recognition of an alternative Venezuelan president and the Trump administration’s broader pressure campaign that could affect head‑of‑state immunity arguments.