During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) asked Michael Kozak, Senior Bureau Official at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, if Venezuelan oil revenues held by the U.S. treasury could be used by Venezuela to pay cartels
Venezuelan Oil Funds – Q&A
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Mr. Kozak, thank you for being here today to answer our questions. Just like with the war in Iran, it's shameful to see the administration repeat the clear foreign policy mistakes of the past, reviving a policy of domination and subjugation in the Western Hemisphere through the Monroe Doctrine. When we are still recovering from the backlash and mistrust that policy created during the Cold War, this is going to set us back in terms of our relationships with the region by decades.
Let’s talk about Venezuela. In January, Trump issued an executive order directing Venezuelan oil revenue to be held in U.S. Treasury accounts, where the funds can be used, quote, “for public, governmental, or diplomatic purposes,” as determined by the Secretary of State. Has the State Department authorized the disbursement of any funds from these accounts to date?
A (Michael Kozak):
Yes, we have. I think a total of around $3 billion has moved—
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Three million or—
A (Michael Kozak):
Three billion.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Three billion dollars. Okay, well, that’s interesting, because we’ve only been told that there’s 1 billion. So how much is in the account?
A (Michael Kozak):
That I will have to get back to you on.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
All right, so you don’t know. But it is at least $3 billion?
A (Michael Kozak):
Three billion has been moved through.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Where has that money—what purposes have those $3 billion been spent on?
A (Michael Kozak):
The agreed purposes are things like paying the salaries of government workers in Venezuela, buying supplies for their oil industry—diluent and so on—other things that benefit the public.
What we’ve said they cannot use the money for is things like making payments to the Chinese, to the Cubans, to the Iranians, or putting money in people’s personal bank accounts, which is what was going on before.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Okay, well, I’m glad that you brought some of that up. Under this executive order, would the Secretary of State be prohibited from using the oil revenue to pay cartels in Venezuela, for example?
A (Michael Kozak):
I don’t know if the executive order would prohibit it, but the Secretary of State sure is not going to do that.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
All right, but the executive order is pretty vague, so it’s really at the discretion of the Secretary of State. So we don’t really know if he would or wouldn’t, since there are no guardrails. Under this executive order, for example, would the Secretary of State be prohibited from using the funds to pay the regime to accept deported Venezuelans from the United States?
A (Michael Kozak):
Look, I’m not going to speculate on anything that could or could not—especially if it’s an issue of what is not prohibited versus what we are doing or plan to do. On the latter, I can tell you we have no plan to use money to pay them to take people. They already were taking people deported from the United States. In fact, they’re welcoming people who want to come back voluntarily.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Well, under the executive order, would the Secretary of State be prohibited from using the funds to pay Trump donors?
A (Michael Kozak):
This is a theoretical legal question. I’m just not going to go down that road. Would it stop them from paying me? Would it stop them from paying you?
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
I think those are legitimate questions. You are the senior bureau official for the Western Hemisphere.
A (Michael Kozak):
We have agreed what to spend it on, and what we have not agreed to spend it on. But you’re asking me whether a legal document prohibits discretionary ideas.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Well, sir, I am asking you that because the American people do deserve to know how dollars are being spent. I mean, the whole idea around this is about the money to be spent, not a law school exam on whether—
A (Michael Kozak):
This is not a law school exam.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
We’re talking about money. But okay, so you want to go there. Has the administration set up an independent audit system for the Treasury account holding the Venezuelan oil funds?
A (Michael Kozak):
Yes.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Okay, so can we access it?
A (Michael Kozak):
It’s KPMG, a very well‑respected audit firm, and they will be providing reports.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
When will they provide the reports?
A (Michael Kozak):
I think probably—I have to ask my colleagues in the Economic Bureau—but I think it’s like quarterly that they’ll be doing so.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
When will the next one be released?
A (Michael Kozak):
I will have to get back to you on that.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Okay. Well, please do.
A (Michael Kozak):
But it’s in place now, and it will be retrospective too. So even though it took a little while to set up, it will go back and audit from the beginning.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
And then we can see how much has been spent, and we can see exactly where the $3 billion were spent?
A (Michael Kozak):
You can see what the auditors find.
Q (Rep. Kamlager‑Dove):
Okay, well, thank you. Thank you for sharing a little bit of information with that. I yield back.
