APTOPIX Venezuela US Maduro

A U.S. judge has pressed the Trump administration about its basis for barring Venezuela’s government from paying former President Nicolás Maduro’s legal fees in his drug trafficking case. Maduro and Cilia Flores, his wife and co-defendant, were in a New York federal court Thursday for the first time since January. Maduro's lawyers argued that the U.S. is violating the deposed leader’s constitutional rights by blocking Venezuelan government money from being used for the couple’s legal costs. The U.S. government hasn’t let the funds flow because of sanctions against the South American country. The judge didn’t issue a ruling, however, nor say when he will.