Jump to content

Vinoo Varghese

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vinoo Varghese
Vinoo Varghese

Vinoo Varghese is an American lawyer who has defended high-profile clients in New York State and federal courts around the country.[1] He provides legal commentary in print and on television. He has appeared on programs such as Hardball with Chris Matthews,[2] The Ingraham Angle,[3] Tucker Carlson Tonight,[4] The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,[5] and CBS This Morning.[6] A former prosecutor,[7] Varghese is an outspoken critic of the nearly unlimited power of prosecutors.[8] On March 21, 2020, the New York Daily News published an op-ed that Varghese wrote blasting Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision not to include criminal defense lawyers as "essential" in Cuomo's COVID-19 shutdown order.[9] The next day, criminal defense lawyers were deemed "essential."[10] On May 29, 2020, Varghese wrote an op-ed about the Manhattan DA engaging in selective prosecution by prosecuting Yasmin Seweid in 2016 for a false criminal report, but not Amy Cooper in the Central Park “Karen” incident.[11] Two weeks after the publication of this op-ed, then District Attorney Cy Vance, ordered her arrest.[12]

Academics

[edit]

Varghese graduated from Chaminade High School.[13][14] He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from New York University (NYU).[15] Three years after graduating from NYU, he enrolled at Brooklyn Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.).[16]

Career

[edit]

After his graduating law school in 2000, Varghese began his legal career as a prosecutor with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, where he worked in the trial bureaus, investigations, and appeals. His last position there was running a unit called the Assault on Police Officer Program, which prosecuted attempted murders of NYPD officers.[17][18] Since February 2006, Varghese has been working as a criminal law defense attorney[19][18] at Varghese & Associates, P.C[15] located on Wall Street.

Varghese has defended multiple high-profile clients. In 2013, Varghese defended Rengan Rajaratnam,[20] the younger brother of Galleon hedge fund king, Raj Rajaratnam,[21] on insider trading charges.[22]

In 2014, Varghese defended New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran[23] who was described by then U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara[24] as the “quarterback” of a scheme to put a Democrat, Malcolm Smith on the Republican ticket for New York City Mayor.[2] Varghese later criticized Bharara for his pretrial comments to The New York Times.[25] During the trial, the New York Times noted that Varghese's cross-examination of an FBI agent led to a mistrial. During the cross, the agent admitted there were multiple recordings of an informant the government hadn't turned over to the defense. This led to multiple mistrial motions, which Southern District Judge Kenneth M. Karas[26] ultimately granted.

From 2009 to 2015, Varghese represented Tomas Olazabal, a construction company owner charged with tax fraud by the Department of Justice's Tax Division. Olazabal was initially convicted at trial due in large part, to prosecutorial misconduct, but Varghese successfully petitioned the trial judge, Brian Cogan[27] of the Eastern District of New York to grant a rare Rule 33 motion for a new trial. The government then appealed the conviction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. There, Varghese successfully beat back the government's appeal.[28] The DOJ Tax Division then retried Olazabal. The second time around, Varghese secured a complete acquittal.[29]

In 2019, Varghese represented Christopher Gooley,[30] a juror on the Chanel Lewis murder retrial in Queens. Lewis, a young black man with a history of mental illness was convicted in a retrial of murdering young Italian American jogger, Karina Vetrano. The case garnered international attention due to the racial optics of the case and Lewis’ mental state. Gooley, shortly after voting guilty spoke with reporters and told them that he was unsure about his verdict and accused the other white jurors of allowing race and other factors to influence their guilty verdict. [31][32][33][34][35]

On September 30, 2021, Varghese filed an emergency request[36] to the Supreme Court of the United States in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio enforcing a vaccine mandate on schoolteachers giving them no choice between getting the vaccine or weekly testing. The Supreme Court application garnered the attention of many national news outlets such as CNN,[37] ABC,[38] USA Today,[39] Bloomberg,[40] The Wall Street Journal,[41] The New York Times,[42] Insider,[43] NPR,[44] and The Hill.[45] Justice Sotomayor rejected the emergency request, but the fight continues when on December 9, 2021, Varghese on behalf of the teachers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari.[46]

Media appearances

[edit]

Varghese is also a regular legal commentator on multiple news networks. These include CBS News,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] Fox Business,[55][56][57][58][59][60] Fox News,[61][62][63][64][65][66][67] CNN,[68] MSNBC,[69][70][71][72][73] Court TV,[74][75][76][77] BBC,[78] i24,[79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] TRT World,[92][93][94] Canadian TV,[95][96] HLN,[97][98][99][100][101][102] and The Today Show Australia.[103] Varghese also guest hosted on Vanity Fair's True Crime series,[104] where he fact checked various financial crime scenes ranging from The Wolf of Wall Street to Billions. Varghese appeared on Inside Edition to comment[105] on the criminal exposure of the photographer who surreptitiously took a picture of Alex Rodriguez on his toilet in his Manhattan high-rise. Varghese was also featured on Nancy Grace's show, Crime Stories, where he commented on the disappearance and murder of Rebecca Hoover.[106] Varghese has also commented on the 2020 Presidential Election on Arabic news network, Sky News Arabia.[107][108]

In June 2021, Varghese was the sole sponsor the 77 WABC Manhattan DA debate, with host Dominic Carter, and candidates Alvin Bragg, Eliza Orlins, Tali Farhadian Weinstein, Elizabeth Crotty, Dan Quart, Diana Florence, Lucy Lang, and Tahanie Aboushi.

Following the debate, Varghese was asked to join Rudy Giuliani on his show to discuss both of their times in the Brooklyn DA’s office, the Derek Chauvin trial, and Giuliani’s law license being suspended due to representing former President Trump.[109] Additionally, Varghese joined the billionaire owner of 77 WABC Radio, John Catsimatidis, on his show, Cats at Night. He was also joined by former New York City Governor George Pataki, and Lidia Curanaj. They discussed prosecutorial abuse and ways that prosecutors can be held accountable for their actions.[110] In partnership with 77 WABC Radio NY, Varghese helped pioneer an educational radio series called Legal Minute with Vinoo Varghese. Legal Minute breaks down legal issues and relevant news topics in 60-seconds or less with the mission to educate and inform listeners about these issues.

Op-Eds

[edit]

Varghese writes frequently and has had his op-eds published by a variety of news outlets, including the New York Law Journal, Law.com, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post.[111] Major television outlets like Fox News have also interviewed Varghese about his op-eds. Fox News invited Varghese on to discuss New York Governor Cuomo's failure to designate lawyers as “essential” during the Coronavirus pandemic.[112] On May 29, 2020, he wrote an op-ed about the Manhattan DA engaging in selective prosecution by prosecuting Yasmin Seweid[113] in 2016 for a false criminal report, but not Amy Cooper in the Central Park “Karen” incident.[114] He also blasted the New York State Bar Association for advocating for forced adult vaccines, if a COVID-19 vaccine were ever developed. In the same op-ed, he criticized the bar association for not advocating for its members, lawyers in general, when it refused to fight Cuomo's executive order, designating lawyers as non- “essential.”[115] In March 2021. Varghese wrote an op-ed titled “Don’t Let Cuomo’s #MeToo Moment Distract from his Impeachable Offenses.”[116] He wrote how New Yorkers should be more concerned about Cuomo’s fatal decision to admit COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes, and less focused on his sexual harassment allegations.

Work in the community

[edit]

Varghese served as president of Chaminade High School's[117] Alumni Lawyers Association from September 2017 through August 2019.[118] He has also acted as an alumni mentor to New York University's College of Arts and Science students since 2014[15] and taught clinical students from Brooklyn Law School[119] and Hofstra School of Law.[1] He has taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School,[120] Cardozo Law School,[121] and for the New York City Law Department.[122]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Top Rated New York, NY White Collar Crimes Attorney | Vinoo Varghese". Super Lawyers. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  2. ^ "Culture wars in the age of Trump. TRANSCRIPT: 8/10/2018, Hardball w Chris Matthews". MSNBC. August 10, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  3. ^ "Ingraham Angle: Cohen Charges & Trump in Trouble – Varghese & Associates". Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Findley, Andrew. "Vinoo Varghese | The National Trial Lawyers". Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  5. ^ "Lori Loughlin faces new charges in college admissions scandal". YouTube.
  6. ^ "Judge who approved no jail time for alleged Baylor rapist allowed light sentences in similar cases". www.cbsnews.com. December 11, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Mistrial declared in Chanel Lewis trial". Queens Chronicle. November 29, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  8. ^ "When Cheating is Legal – Varghese & Associates". Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Varghese, Vinoo (March 21, 2020). "Defense attorneys are essential personnel: New coronavirus restrictions fail to protect lawyers who serve the accused". nydailynews.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  10. ^ "UPDATED: NYSACDL Response to Governor Cuomo's EO 202.6 Regarding Providers of Essential Services - New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers". nysacdl.site-ym.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Vinoo, Varghese (May 29, 2020). "Prosecuting Karen—Amy Cooper and the Selective Prosecution of Yasmine Seweid".
  12. ^ "D.A. Vance: Amy Cooper Charged in Criminal Court for False Report in Central Park". Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
  13. ^ "Alumni Information | Chaminade High School, Mineola, NY". www.chaminade-hs.org. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  14. ^ "Chaminade High School", Wikipedia, November 5, 2018, retrieved December 28, 2018
  15. ^ a b c "Vinoo Varghese (CAS '96), Criminal Defense Attorney, on Why He Mentors NYU Students". Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  16. ^ "1901 Society Spotlight". www.brooklaw.edu. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  17. ^ ""El Chapo" reduced to tears as wife, daughters appear in court". www.cbsnews.com. December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  18. ^ a b "CROSSROADS | With Tal Heinrich and David Shuster | Wednesday, December 19th 2018". I24NEWS. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  19. ^ "Harmeet Dhillon: Lanny Davis sold out Michael Cohen". Fox News. August 22, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  20. ^ "Rengan Rajaratnam", Wikipedia, February 19, 2019, retrieved May 7, 2020
  21. ^ "Raj Rajaratnam", Wikipedia, February 2, 2020, retrieved May 7, 2020
  22. ^ "Rajaratnam's brother pleads not guilty to fraud". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  23. ^ "Dan Halloran", Wikipedia, September 28, 2019, retrieved May 15, 2020
  24. ^ "Preet Bharara", Wikipedia, April 27, 2020, retrieved May 7, 2020
  25. ^ Rashbaum, William K.; McKinley, Jesse (September 17, 2013). "New Rules Could Strip Pensions From Politicians Convicted of Corruption". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  26. ^ "Kenneth M. Karas", Wikipedia, April 11, 2020, retrieved May 11, 2020
  27. ^ "Brian Cogan", Wikipedia, July 15, 2019, retrieved May 15, 2020
  28. ^ "2nd Circ. OKs Rare Rule 33 Retrial Over Biz Tax Filings - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  29. ^ "Jury Clears Construction Biz Owner In Retrial On Tax Charges - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  30. ^ "Christopher Gooley". IMDb. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  31. ^ Judge Upholds Conviction in Karina Vetrano’s Murder, Despite Lone Juror’s Claim It Was Tainted New York Times Archived May 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ Berger, Joseph (June 17, 2014). "Mistrial Is Declared in Malcolm Smith Corruption Trial". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  33. ^ Gardiner, Sean (June 13, 2014). "Decision in Malcolm Smith Trial Expected Monday". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  34. ^ Rey, Gene (April 22, 2019). "Judge Denies Motion On Juror Misconduct In Vetrano Case". Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  35. ^ Ransom, Jan (April 21, 2019). "Judge Upholds Conviction in Karina Vetrano's Murder, Despite Lone Juror's Claim It Was Tainted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  36. ^ "Maniscalco v NYC Dept of Education - Emergency Application" (PDF). United States Supreme Court.
  37. ^ "New York City public school teachers ask Supreme Court to block vaccine mandate". CNN.
  38. ^ "Supreme Court justice axes appeal of NYC school vaccine plan". ABC News.
  39. ^ "Supreme Court declines to block New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for teachers". USA Today.
  40. ^ "NYC Teachers Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Lift Covid Vaccine Mandate". Bloomberg.
  41. ^ "Supreme Court Allows New York School Vaccine Mandate to Move Ahead". The Wall Street Journal.
  42. ^ Shapiro, Eliza (October 4, 2021). "N.Y.C. Schools' Vaccine Mandate Is in Place. 96% of Teachers Got a Shot". The New York Times.
  43. ^ "Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor denies a request from New York City teachers to block vaccine mandate". Insider.
  44. ^ "Supreme Court justice has turned down NYC teachers' appeal of the vaccine requirement". NPR.
  45. ^ "New York City school teachers ask Supreme Court to block vaccine mandate". The Hill.
  46. ^ "Rachel Maniscalco, et al., Petitioners v. New York City Department of Education, et al". Supreme Court of the United States.
  47. ^ "Loophole dropped Epstein from sex offender list in New Mexico, where he owned $17 million ranch". www.cbsnews.com. August 21, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  48. ^ NYPD fires officer Daniel Pantaleo over Garner chokehold, retrieved May 7, 2020
  49. ^ Epstein accuser files lawsuit in fight for justice, retrieved May 7, 2020
  50. ^ The latest on Jeffrey Epstein's bail request and newly unsealed documents from the case against Michael Cohen, retrieved May 7, 2020
  51. ^ Jeffrey Epstein pleads not guilty to new sex trafficking charges, retrieved May 7, 2020
  52. ^ R. Kelly turns himself in to Chicago police, retrieved May 7, 2020
  53. ^ Michael Cohen appears in federal court, retrieved May 7, 2020
  54. ^ El Chapo trial: Jury deliberations begin next week, retrieved May 7, 2020
  55. ^ "Jussie Smollett may have thrown 'a monkey wrench' into the criminal justice system, former prosecutor". Fox Business. March 27, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  56. ^ "Mark Zuckerberg faces questions on Capitol Hill". Fox Business. April 10, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  57. ^ "College admissions scandal faces a new revelation with Calif. father". Fox Business. January 21, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  58. ^ "IG Report fallout: Charges against Comey unlikely?". Fox Business. June 15, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  59. ^ "Trump has highlighted a problem in the federal system, says former prosecutor". Fox Business. August 24, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  60. ^ "Attorney Vinoo Varghese on new charges against officers in the death of George Floyd". Fox News. June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  61. ^ "COVID-19 and our legal system". Fox News. March 26, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  62. ^ "Hanukkah stabbing suspect charged with six counts of attempted murder". Fox News. January 4, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  63. ^ "Boston College student charged in graduation day suicide of her boyfriend". Fox News. October 30, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  64. ^ "Felicity Huffman's 14-day sentence sparks outrage on social media". Fox News. September 15, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  65. ^ "Former Yale women's soccer coach expected to plead guilty in college admissions scandal". Fox News. March 28, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  66. ^ "Harmeet Dhillon: Lanny Davis sold out Michael Cohen". Fox News. August 22, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  67. ^ "Attorney Vinoo Varghese on new charges against officers in the death of George Floyd". news.yahoo.com. June 4, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  68. ^ "MSNBC: Trump v. Justice Roberts". YouTube.
  69. ^ "MSNBC Hardball: Troubles in the Manafort Trial & Trump Perjury Trap". YouTube.
  70. ^ "MSNBC: Trump Tweets Put Donald Jr. At Legal Risk". YouTube.
  71. ^ "House Democrats seek documents from Trump associates". YouTube.
  72. ^ "Court TV: Is Harvey Weinstein Getting Railroaded?". YouTube.
  73. ^ "Court TV: Does Harvey Weinstein Deserve a Fair Trial?". YouTube.
  74. ^ "Will Wiped Away Evidence Be Problematic?". YouTube.
  75. ^ "Did Prosecutors Aim at Warner's Tattoos?". YouTube.
  76. ^ "Will Harvey Weinstein Survive the Final Verdict?". YouTube.
  77. ^ "i24 Israeli News: Breaking down Trump's Impeachment Hearings". YouTube.
  78. ^ "i24 The Rundown: Jeffrey Epstein Case". YouTube.
  79. ^ "i24 Israeli News: Are Driver's Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants a Good Idea?". YouTube.
  80. ^ "i24 Israeli News: Is Impeachment the Only Way to Prevent Trump from Becoming King?". YouTube.
  81. ^ "i24 News: Will the Seized Michael Cohen Tapes be the End of Trump?". YouTube.
  82. ^ "i24 News: Trump Brands Himself a Nationalist". YouTube.
  83. ^ "i24 News: Giuliani Hurting Trump by Admitting Knowledge of Payment to Daniels?". YouTube.
  84. ^ "i24 News: Is Trump making prison great again?". YouTube.
  85. ^ "i24 News: Kavanaugh & FBI Probe; right temperament for the Supreme Court?". YouTube.
  86. ^ "i24 News: Trial Begins for Ex Trump Aide Paul Manafort". YouTube.
  87. ^ "i24News: Roger Stone arrested by FBI and charged with Obstruction". YouTube.
  88. ^ "i24News: Is Giuliani Unhinged? Will Manafort Get Bail?". YouTube.
  89. ^ "Nexus TRT World: Is Weinstein Past The Statute of Limitations?". YouTube.
  90. ^ "Blood Money: The Story of Theranos' Con Woman". YouTube.
  91. ^ "Coronavirus and the Economic & Legal Effects". YouTube.
  92. ^ "Vinoo Varghese, criminal defense lawyer, joins the show to discuss the ongoing El Chapo trial and what's behind the drawn out deliberation process". Facebook.
  93. ^ Mustian, Jim (February 13, 2019). "No escape? El Chapo likely off to 'prison of all prisons'". CTVNews. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  94. ^ "HLN: Philly Man Carjacks Kids, Then Dad & Crowd Kills Him. Vigilante Justice or Self Defense?". YouTube.
  95. ^ "HLN Weekend Express: R. Kelly Arrested While Walking His Dog". YouTube.
  96. ^ "HLN Across America: Duck Boat Tragedy Deaths". YouTube.
  97. ^ "CNN HLN Across America: Golden State Killer Caught". YouTube.
  98. ^ "Shanann Watts' Parents Sue Her Killer Husband". YouTube.
  99. ^ "CNN Headline News: Who Should Get A Killer's Money?". YouTube. March 30, 2018.
  100. ^ "Protests over the death of George Floyd have gone global, with demonstrators in the US, UK, and Europe calling for murder charges and guilty verdicts for the police officers involved". Twitter.
  101. ^ "Wall Street Lawyer Reviews Financial Crime Scenes, from "Billions" to "Mr. Robot" | Vanity Fair". YouTube. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  102. ^ "Who Took a Photo of Alex Rodriguez on the Toilet?". Inside Edition. May 20, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  103. ^ "Monday Crime Stories: Tip from 8-yo boy cracks mystery surrounding disappearance of gorgeous young mom". Crime Online. September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  104. ^ "Can Biden Unite Americans?". YouTube.
  105. ^ "United States | Questions about what would happen if Trump refused to leave the White House". YouTube.
  106. ^ "Vinoo Varghese Chats with "America's Mayor," Rudy Giuliani". YouTube.
  107. ^ "Prosecutorial Abuse and How to Hold Prosecutors Accountable | Vinoo Varghese on Cats at Night". YouTube.
  108. ^ Varghese, Vinoo (July 21, 2017). "Why O.J. Simpson should still be killing time in prison". New York Post. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  109. ^ "In the Corona Age are Lawyers Necessary?". YouTube.
  110. ^ Jacobs, Shayna; Siegel, Jefferson (September 8, 2017). "Muslim college student who lied about Trump supporter subway attack pleads guilty". nydailynews.com. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  111. ^ Varghese, Vinoo (May 29, 2020). "Prosecuting Karen—Amy Cooper and the Selective Prosecution of Yasmine Seweid". New York Law Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  112. ^ Varghese, Vinoo (June 5, 2020). "Is the New York State Bar Association Relevant?". New York Law Journal. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  113. ^ "Don't let Cuomo's #MeToo Moment Distract from his Impeachable Offenses".
  114. ^ "Chaminade High School | A Private Catholic, Marianist School on Long Island, NY". www.chaminade-hs.org. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  115. ^ "Lawyers Association View from Corporate Counsel - Chaminade High School". www.chaminade-hs.org. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  116. ^ "Brooklyn Law School - Home". www.brooklaw.edu. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  117. ^ "Harvard Law School". Harvard Law School. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  118. ^ "Home". cardozo.yu.edu. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  119. ^ "New York City Law Department". www1.nyc.gov. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vinoo_Varghese&oldid=1245418517"