It’s a tricky situation for Reza Zarrab, the gold trader with high-profile political connections in Turkey. In addition to the question of whether or not Zarrab violated U.S. sanctions with Iran in his business dealings, New York judge Richard Berman is in the process of determining whether or not Zarrab can continue to use Rudy Giuliani (yes, that Rudy Giuliani) and Michael Mukasey as his advisors on the case.
In order to oust Giuliani and Mukasey, however, the prosecution must do more than just bring up general concerns regarding a conflict of interest (Giuliani is an advisor for Greenberg Traurig LLP, which is a registered agent of the Turkish government).
“The court’s focus isn’t on whether prosecutors are uncomfortable with the fact that this defendant has hired giant names to negotiate at the highest levels of the government,” noted Miami lawyer Kendall Coffey. “And the court’s inherent authority is not ordinarily conceived to explore negotiations happening outside the courtroom or how much a defendant’s negotiators are being paid.”
Still, in an April 18 letter to the court, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim urged Judge Richard Berman to look more closely at the relationship between Greenberg and the Turkish government.
“[W]ithout additional information concerning Greenberg’s representation of the Republic of Turkey, the government is unable to pose more specific questions to address and conflicts that may arise,” Kim warned.
And there’s the added concern that both Giuliani and Mukasey have close ties to the Trump administration, which could potentially influence the outcome of the case.
Judge Berman has apparently taken these concerns to heart, calling on Benjamin Brafman, Zarrab’s lead trial counsel, to produce copies of Giuliani’s and Mukasey’s retainer agreements.
At a related hearing this week, Berman even went so far as to criticize the former New York City mayor for not mentioning anything regarding Zarrab’s alleged violation of US sanctions on Iran. Giuliani’s statement referred to the allegations as pertinent to “consumer goods” when, in fact, it’s possible Zarrab’s actions may have involved helping entities tied to Iran’s nuclear program. If true, this constitutes a serious felony.
“Most respectfully, the Giuliani and Mukasey affidavits appear surprisingly disingenuous in failing to mention the central role of Iran in the indictment,” said Berman at the hearing.
This situation is just one of many woes in the case against Zarrab, who was arrested by the FBI in March of last year.
In addition to the charges against Zarrab himself and the potential conflict of interest for his advisors, there’s the unusual affidavit submitted by Guiliani himself noting that he has met separately with Turkish leaders in an effort to resolve the situation via “some agreement between the United States and Turkey that will promote the national interests of the United States and redound to the benefit of Mr. Zarrab.” Prosecutors are crying foul regarding the propriety of a defense advisor settling a case without any connection to what’s happening in court. Zarrab’s team, however, notes that neither Giuliani nor Mukasey will actually appear in court or play any role in the official trial.
Photo: The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. People visit the bazaar for gold and foreign currency, among other things. Credit: sifkigali / Shutterstock.com