How a defrocked judge became the chief legal enforcer for Maduro's Venezuela

Documents including a 2006 intelligence report by the Supreme Court’s security division and a high court ruling against Moreno last decade point to episodes in which Moreno was accused of being on the wrong side of the law – from the 1989 shooting to his ouster as a lower court judge in 2007 for what the high court said was the improper release of two murder suspects. Opponents of the Maduro government say Moreno is instrumental in propping up an administration that is increasingly authoritarian. In recent months, the top court has sentenced five opposition mayors to prison. It approved the ouster of Venezuela’s chief prosecutor, who fled the country in mid-August, joining a growing exodus of Maduro critics. More…