US Prosecutors Close Betancourt Probe for 65 Billion-Barrel Venezuela Oil Deal
Updated
Updated · CNN · Sep 4
US Prosecutors Close Betancourt Probe for 65 Billion-Barrel Venezuela Oil Deal
3 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 4
Summary
Federal prosecutors in Miami recently shut their long-running probe of Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt after being told the move was ordered from then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, according to people briefed on the matter.
The closure came as Trump White House officials and Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought Betancourt’s help to structure a new Venezuela oil venture that Trump says would give the US control of 65 billion barrels of reserves.
Rubio and other officials also pressed Justice Department leaders to clear Betancourt for the project, while Blanche allegedly sought Swiss cooperation to ease travel limits and the State Department issued Betancourt visas as talks advanced.
Betancourt was never charged in the US, but he had been tied to a decade-long PDVSA money-laundering investigation that produced 10 indictments and remained shadowed by Swiss asset freezes and a London arrest last year.
The Justice Department denies Blanche intervened, while Rubio has defended Betancourt as vetted and central to a deal the White House calls the largest oil agreement in history.