The U.S. federal prosecutor who led the case against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, has withdrawn from the prosecution, according to a letter filed with the court this Thursday, less than nine months before the trial is set to begin.
The resignation of Jason A. Richman, who had been the co-chief of the National Security Unit in the Southern District of New York, comes at a crucial juncture: less than nine months before the scheduled oral trial on June 1, 2027. This development adds a new layer of complexity to a case that has already faced numerous legal challenges and political ramifications.
Richman’s withdrawal, announced in a letter to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, cites his departure from the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the reason for stepping down from the case.
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Richman’s departure, after more than a decade in the role, comes at a sensitive moment in the case, with defense team challenging the legality of the proceedings and contesting the revocation of licenses from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which has hindered its ability to finance the legal representation.
Richman had led and overseen the prosecution against the Venezuelan President since its earliest stages, and legal observers described his exit as a significant setback for the U.S. government’s strategy in the case.
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) October 1, 2026
Defense Challenges Case
While the Southern District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office will keep the case under its National Security Division, Richman’s departure forces a transition in the prosecution’s technical leadership at a high-tension procedural moment. The defense, led by attorney Barry J. Pollack -a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in complex criminal cases, including politically sensitive and high-profile matters, and who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange- has objected to the legality of President Maduro’s kidnapping, questioned whether U.S. courts have territorial jurisdiction over the case, and criticized the OFAC licensing hurdles affecting the funding of legal fees.
The defense team has also pointed to documented deterioration in Cilia Flores’s health, pushing for alternative measures that would ease her confinement on humanitarian grounds as the trial date approaches, while the trial preparations continue.
President Maduro’s defense has consistently argued that the prosecution rests on shaky legal grounds, pointing to jurisdictional questions and procedural irregularities it says undermine the case’s legitimacy.
The resignation of Richman is seen as a significant blow to the U.S. government’s strategy in the case. While the Southern District of New York will continue to handle the prosecution under the National Security Division, the loss of its lead prosecutor necessitates a transition in the technical leadership of the case.
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