Barry Pollack to Defend Maduro Against US Drug Charges

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Barry Pollack — the Washington lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange — will defend toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a U.S. drug case that could test immunity claims for foreign leaders and the legality of his capture.

Pollack appeared with Maduro on Monday as he pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court days after Maduro and his wife were seized in a U.S. military raid.

Defending Assange gave Pollack a taste of cases steeped in global intrigue and with consequences for America’s standing in the world. The case tested whether U.S. law could criminalize the publishing of sensitive information.

POLLACK NEGOTIATED ASSANGE RELEASE DEAL

Assange faced U.S. Espionage Act charges for WikiLeaks’ mass release of secret U.S. documents, including diplomatic cables and accounts of military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

After months of negotiations, he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defense information. 

The unusual 2024 deal Pollack struck let Assange walk out of a British prison, enter his plea in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands before returning to his native Australia.

POLLACK SAYS HE WILL CHALLENGE MADURO'S 'MILITARY ABDUCTION'

Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to a four-count indictment accusing him of leading a conspiracy to funnel cocaine into the United States, including by working with armed guerrilla groups, drug cartels and international gangs.

At Maduro's arraignment in Manhattan federal court on Monday, Pollack said he anticipated extensive legal wrangling over what he termed Maduro's "military abduction," signaling the defense will argue Saturday's operation was unlawful.  

Pollack may also claim that Maduro is immune from criminal charges as the head of a foreign government. Pollack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"The United States has an extraordinary view of what its worldwide jurisdiction is," Pollack told the legal site Lawdragon in an interview last year about the Assange case.

Both arguments face legal hurdles. 

The U.S. has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela's leader since 2019, after Maduro claimed victory in an election the U.S. and other countries deemed fraudulent. U.S. courts have generally declined to dismiss prosecutions based on claims a defendant was brought to the U.S. unlawfully.

Pollack, a partner at the Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler law firm, also previously represented a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who was convicted of sharing classified information with a reporter. 

He secured an acquittal for a former Enron Corp executive who faced charges tied to the energy company's collapse in 2001.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Additional reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)