Thought I'd start a separate thread to talk about the actual criminal case against Maduro and the process.
He pled not guilty today, repeatedly interrupting the judge to claim he was kidnapped. His wife Flores did the same. They are represented by two different attorneys, which makes sense.
The attorney representing Maduro is the same attorney who represented Julian Assange in his US case.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/05/venezuela-maduro-court-trump.html
They will be held without bond.
Maduro's attorney said he would be filing a bunch of motions questioning the legality of the arrest by the military along with a lot of other motions.
The judge in this case is a 92-year-old Clinton appointee who does not appear ready to retire anytime soon. I've seen nothing to indicate people are concerned about a cognitive decline with him but I can't help but wonder if he's actually going to be around to see this case through considering the length of time it is going to take. Most of the grunt work in federal courts is handled by the clerks.
While he has ruled against Trump a few times, he doesn't come across as a guy who gives too much leeway to criminal defendants.
A co-defendant in this case was already tried in his court many years ago and received almost quadruple the prison sentence the defendant requested after pleading guilty.
He pled not guilty today, repeatedly interrupting the judge to claim he was kidnapped. His wife Flores did the same. They are represented by two different attorneys, which makes sense.
The attorney representing Maduro is the same attorney who represented Julian Assange in his US case.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/05/venezuela-maduro-court-trump.html
They will be held without bond.
Maduro's attorney said he would be filing a bunch of motions questioning the legality of the arrest by the military along with a lot of other motions.
The judge in this case is a 92-year-old Clinton appointee who does not appear ready to retire anytime soon. I've seen nothing to indicate people are concerned about a cognitive decline with him but I can't help but wonder if he's actually going to be around to see this case through considering the length of time it is going to take. Most of the grunt work in federal courts is handled by the clerks.
While he has ruled against Trump a few times, he doesn't come across as a guy who gives too much leeway to criminal defendants.
A co-defendant in this case was already tried in his court many years ago and received almost quadruple the prison sentence the defendant requested after pleading guilty.
