The Washington-based advocate who steered Julian Assange out of a long-running international standoff is now stepping into another high-voltage fight — this time on behalf of Venezuela’s embattled strongman, Nicolás Maduro.
Fresh from negotiating the deal that ended Assange’s years of confinement, Barry Pollack appeared in a Manhattan courtroom as Maduro entered a not-guilty plea in a U.S. case alleging a far-reaching cocaine trafficking operation aimed at American shores. The appearance followed a dramatic U.S. military operation that brought Maduro and his wife into American custody, an action the defense is expected to challenge head-on.
Pollack’s recent past reads like a primer on global intrigue. His work on Assange revolved around whether U.S. law could stretch far enough to punish the publication of classified material — a dispute that raised alarms well beyond Washington. That chapter closed with an unconventional resolution: Assange admitted to a single conspiracy count, left a British prison, entered a plea in a U.S. Pacific territory, and returned home to Australia.
The Maduro case promises its own legal minefield. The charges accuse the Venezuelan leader of orchestrating a network that allegedly moved cocaine north with help from armed groups and criminal syndicates. In court, Pollack signaled that the manner of Maduro’s capture — described by the defense as a “military abduction” — will be a central battleground. Another expected line of argument is whether a foreign head of government can be hauled into a U.S. criminal case at all.
Those arguments come with built-in resistance. Washington has refused to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader for years, and U.S. courts have historically shown little appetite for dismissing cases based solely on how a defendant was brought into the country.
Still, Pollack is no stranger to uphill battles. His career includes defending intelligence officials accused of leaking secrets and securing acquittals in high-stakes corporate collapse cases. Speaking previously about the Assange saga, he remarked that the United States takes an expansive view of its reach across borders — a sentiment likely to echo as the Maduro proceedings unfold.
With questions of sovereignty, immunity, and cross-border force all converging, the case is shaping up as another test of how far American power can extend — and how fiercely it will be contested.
