A federal judge on Thursday challenged the Trump administration’s rationale for preventing Venezuela’s government from covering the attorney fees for former President Nicolás Maduro, who remains incarcerated in New York on drug trafficking charges.
During court proceedings, the judge questioned the administration’s legal foundation for blocking the South American nation from funding Maduro’s defense in the narcotics case that has landed the former leader in a New York detention facility.
The hearing comes as Maduro faces serious drug trafficking allegations in U.S. federal court, with his legal representation becoming a point of contention between his home country’s government and American authorities.
