IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
OI EUROPEAN GROUP B.V.,
Plaintiff,
v.
BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA,
Defendant.
C.A. No. 19-mc-290 (LPS)
DECLARATION OF JOHN E. SMITH
I, John E. Smith, hereby declare under penalty of perjury, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, that the following is true and correct:
I. Introduction and Qualifications
1. I am a partner in the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP, which has been retained by Plaintiff and judgment creditor OI European Group B.V. (“OIEG”) in the above-captioned action.
2. I make this declaration in support of Plaintiff’s Post-Hearing Brief in Support of Its Renewed Motion for an Order Authorizing the Issuance of a Writ of Attachment Fieri Facias.
3. I have been asked to assume the accuracy of the statements set out in the “Assumptions” section...
1) BACKGROUND
We ordinarily only include on-the-record statements on high ranking OFAC officials in the Research System when those officials are speaking on behalf of the agency, but this declaration from OFAC’s most recently departed (as of 2021) director provides a window into certain of OFAC’s licensing policies and practices that is both unique on substance and reliable. While the declaration was made at the behest of a private litigant, it was made under penalty of perjury, in connection with a case that OFAC is closely watching, and it was made relatively close in time to the former director's tenure at OFAC, so there is little reason to suspect that the statements in the declaration would not reflect OFAC's practices as of the date on which the declaration was made.
2a) EXPLANATION FOR OFAC’S NARROW INTERPRETATIONS OF THE BASIC BLOCKING PROHIBITION...