Barry Pollack, a US trial lawyer, will take on the case as the captured Venezuelan president’s private counsel

When Nicolás Maduro appeared in court in New York on Monday, his choice of lawyer quickly raised eyebrows.

The captured Venezuelan president was accompanied by Barry Pollack, a top-tier US trial lawyer who spent years representing Julian Assange, eventually securing the WikiLeaks founder’s release from prison in the UK in 2024.

Pollack is a partner at Harris St Laurent & Wechsler, a law firm based on New York’s Wall Street in the financial district of lower Manhattan, just a few minutes walk from the federal court where Maduro pleaded not guilty to criminal charges on Monday.

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[–] 76 points 10 months ago (15 children)

I expect a kangaroo court. But if by some chance it weren't, and Maduro were to walk and they had to send him back to Venezuela, that would be really, really funny.

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  • [–] 24 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    I expect a kangaroo court.

    I've been wondering how they choose what court he goes to, and I can't help but think this is the main deciding factor.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (9 children)

    I expect a kangaroo court.

    I don't. The US justice system isn't that compromised just yet. It's only really stacked against the poor; if you can pay enough (which Maduro presumably can) you should be able to expect a somewhat fair trial.

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  • [–] 30 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    The US justice system isn’t that compromised just yet

    Tell me how you can say that with a straight face, when you have people in the supreme court being openly bribed without any consequences whatsoever

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Oh the supreme court is rotten no argument there, but he's not being tried by the supreme court, at least not yet. The regime would have to appeal decisions at multiple levels before getting there, and by that point it won't matter anymore.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (2 children)

    at least not yet

    ...and there you go. Even if the man is innocent, he'll be jailed for years. This corrupt administration will drag this on forever even if they lose. As you said, "by that point it won’t matter anymore".

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  • [–] 15 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    The judge is 92 years old.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago

    This whole thing is so fucking dumb

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    Stay away from windows.

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    [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    Assange definitely made decisions that helped Trump in 2016. I'm not saying we shouldn't get transparency or that he shouldn't have released the information, but it definitely seemed designed to be released in a way to help Trump's campaign.

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