The ruling resolves a brief but pointed dispute over who controls Maduro’s defense as his attorney prepares substantial legal challenges to the legality of what Maduro called a kidnapping, and to argue that he retains immunity as the recognized head of a sovereign state.
A federal judge in Manhattan on Monday rejected a former senior Justice Department official’s attempt to insert himself into the legal defense of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, ruling the attorney had no authority to do so without Maduro’s direct approval.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a written order finding that attorney Bruce Fein had “no legal basis” to join Maduro’s drug trafficking case. Hellerstein had initially approved Fein’s application to join the defense team but reversed course after Barry Pollack — the Washington lawyer who has represented Maduro since his arraignment — objected and produced a statement from Maduro himself disavowing any knowledge of Fein.
“If Maduro wishes to retain Fein, he has the ability to do so,” Hellerstein wrote. “Fein cannot appoint himself to represent Maduro.”
What Fein claimed
Fein, who served as associate deputy attorney general during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, claimed in court papers that “individuals credibly situated” within Maduro’s inner circle or family had sought out his assistance and that Maduro “had expressed a desire” for his involvement in the case.
Hellerstein ruled that those unnamed individuals had no authority to retain counsel on Maduro’s behalf. He also denied Fein’s separate request that the judge summon Maduro to court to ask him directly whether he wanted Fein added to the defense team.
What Maduro’s lawyer said
Pollack, a prominent attorney whose clients have included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said in a court filing last week that he had spoken directly with Maduro. The ex-leader confirmed to him that he does not know Fein and has not communicated with him, much less retained him or authorized him to join the case, Pollack said.
Fein acknowledged in his own written response that he had had no contact with Maduro by telephone, video, or any other direct means. Messages seeking comment from Fein and Pollack on Monday were not returned, according to the Associated Press.
The broader case
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held without bail at a federal jail in Brooklyn since U.S. special forces seized them from their home in Caracas. At his Jan. 5 arraignment in Manhattan federal court, Maduro called the seizure a kidnapping and declared himself a prisoner of war.
Both have pleaded not guilty to charges alleging that Maduro worked with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States.
Pollack told the court at arraignment that he expected to make “substantial” filings challenging the legality of what he characterized as a military abduction and invoking Maduro’s claimed immunity as the head of a sovereign state. The pair are due back in court on March 17.