A federal judge in Manhattan has officially prohibited attorney Bruce Fein from representing the deposed President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, after determining that the lawyer lacked the necessary authorization from the defendant.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled that Mr. Fein did not have the right to act on Maduro’s behalf because he had never actually been retained by the Venezuelan leader.
In his ruling to resolve the legal dispute, the judge stated:“Unnamed persons cannot appoint counsel; only a defendant can do so. If Maduro wishes to retain Fein, he has the ability to do so. Fein cannot appoint himself to represent Maduro.”
The situation arose after Mr. Maduro was taken from Caracas to Manhattan to face narco-terrorism charges.
While several high-profile attorneys, including Barry J. Pollack and David Wikstrom, sought to represent him, a conflict emerged when Mr. Fein entered the court on Thursday to stand in for Maduro. Mr. Maduro, however, appeared not to recognize him.
Mr. Pollack, who represented Maduro at his arraignment, challenged Fein’s involvement in a court filing, asserting:“I confirmed with Mr. Maduro that he does not know Mr. Fein and has not communicated with Mr. Fein, much less retained him.”
Defending his actions to The New York Times, Mr. Fein claimed that he was not motivated by money and that “time was of the essence.”
He insisted he was acting on behalf of the president’s family members, stating:“I received no funds or promises of funds. I was informed that Maduro’s insiders — including brother-in-law — suspected betrayal and trusted no one in Maduro’s hastily arranged initial representation.”
Despite Fein’s insistence that he acted “in good faith” after being contacted by “individuals credibly situated within President Maduro’s inner circle,” Judge Hellerstein dismissed the argument, maintaining that only the defendant can appoint their own counsel.
Mr. Fein is well-known as a lawyer for Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who was sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in 2025.
This is not the first time Fein has faced hurdles in a courtroom; in November 2021, Justice Binta Nyako denied him entry to a hearing for Mr. Kanu in Abuja.
During that 2021 incident, Mr. Kanu had pleaded with the court to allow Fein’s participation, saying:“I have an ongoing case in the U.S. I have not been allowed to see him (Bruce Fein). He (Mr. Fein) is here to see me and to observe proceedings. He (Mr. Fein) has been to the DSS to see me, but they denied him access to me.”
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