Nicolás Maduro has been in the United States for less than a week and already, lawyers are fighting to represent him.
Barry J. Pollack, who represented Mr. Maduro, the former Venezuelan leader, at his Manhattan arraignment, filed papers with the court on Thursday, saying that another attorney, Bruce Fein, had improperly entered the case and was “purporting to appear” on Mr. Maduro’s behalf.
Mr. Maduro, who pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges, was unfamiliar with Mr. Fein — according to Mr. Pollack.
“I confirmed with Mr. Maduro that he does not know Mr. Fein and has not communicated with Mr. Fein, much less retained him,” Mr. Pollack wrote.
Mr. Fein responded with his own filing, writing that he had joined the case “in good faith,” based upon information “from individuals credibly situated within President Maduro’s inner circle or family,” who he said had expressed a desire for his help.
“I received no funds or promises of funds,” Mr. Fein wrote in an email to The New York Times on Friday. “I was informed that Maduro’s insiders — including brother-in-law — suspected betrayal and trusted no one in Maduro’s hastily arranged initial representation.”
He added, “I was told time was of the essence and acted accordingly.”
Disputes among lawyers are not exactly rare, but in the case of Mr. Maduro, the stakes are high and the interested parties are many. There is also general confusion stemming from the circumstances of Mr. Maduro’s capture, as Mr. Fein noted in his filing with the judge.
“President Maduro was apprehended under extraordinary, startling, and viperlike circumstances,” Mr. Fein wrote, including “immediate immersion in a foreign criminal process in a foreign tongue.”
Mr. Fein said the circumstances were “fraught with the potential for misunderstandings or miscommunications.”
Mr. Pollack and Mr. Fein are both longtime Washington lawyers with experience in international issues. Mr. Pollack represented Julian Assange; Mr. Fein was a high-ranking Justice Department official under President Reagan.
Trump Administration: Live Updates
Updated
- Judge bars Trump from withholding election funds to states.
- Trump calls for a 10 percent cap on credit card interest.
- Consumer bureau leader requests $145 million for an agency he wants to eliminate.
Mr. Fein said in his court filing that he had not spoken to Mr. Maduro, and insisted he was not questioning the “accuracy or good faith” of Mr. Pollack’s representations to the court. But he asked the judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court, to conduct a private interview to “definitively ascertain President Maduro’s wishes.”
Should Judge Hellerstein conclude that Mr. Fein’s withdrawal from the case would faithfully reflect those wishes, Mr. Fein said he would end his representation.
Mr. Pollack declined to comment on Friday.
And as of Friday evening, Judge Hellerstein had not weighed in, leaving the situation unresolved.
It is unclear who is paying for Mr. Maduro’s legal bills as well as those of his wife and co-defendant, Cilia Flores. (She too has pleaded not guilty.)
Mr. Pollack and Mr. Fein are not the only lawyers to have believed they were representing Mr. Maduro. On Monday, with Mr. Maduro’s arraignment imminent and with no private lawyer having stepped forward, the court-appointed lawyer on call, David Wikstrom, rushed to the courthouse to meet with Mr. Maduro, according to a letter Mr. Wikstrom sent to the judge that was filed on the public docket.
Mr. Wikstrom wrote that he had met with Mr. Maduro, as well as Venezuelan government lawyers, while trying “repeatedly” to communicate with lawyers who had said they would represent Mr. Maduro but had yet to formally indicate as much.
“I prepared hastily for the initial appearance and attended it,” Mr. Wikstrom wrote, “and at that appearance, private counsel appeared and obviated” the need for his services.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
Benjamin Weiser is a Times reporter covering the federal courts and U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and the justice system more broadly.
The post A (Lawyerly) Spat Erupts Over the Defense of Nicolás Maduro appeared first on New York Times.
