Vinoo Varghese

Vinoo Varghese is a Wall Street criminal defense attorney, who has defended several 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 himself,[7] Varghese, however, 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]

Vinoo Varghese

Academics

Varghese graduated from Chaminade High School.[11] [12][11] He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from New York University (NYU).[13] Three years after graduating from NYU, he enrolled at Brooklyn Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.).[14]

Career

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.[15][16] Since February 2006, Varghese has been working as a criminal law defense attorney[17][16] at Varghese & Associates, P.C[13] located on Wall Street.

Varghese has defended multiple high-profile clients. In 2013, Varghese defended Rengan Rajaratnam[18], the younger brother of Galleon hedge fund king, Raj Rajaratnam[19], on insider trading charges.[20]

In 2014, Varghese defended New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran[21] who was described by then U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara[22] 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.[23] 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[24] ultimately granted.

From 2009-2015, 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[25] 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.[26] The DOJ Tax Division then retried Olazabal. The second time around, Varghese secured a complete acquittal.[27]

In 2019, Varghese represented Christopher Gooley[28], 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. [6][29][30][31][32]

Varghese is also a regular legal commentator on multiple news networks. These include CBS News[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40], Fox Business[41][42][43][44][45][46], Fox News[47][48][49][50][51][52], CNN[53], MSNBC,[54][55][56][57][58], Court TV[59][60][61][62], BBC[63], i24[64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76],TRT World[77][78][79], Canadian TV[80], HLN[81][82][83][84][85][86], and The Today Show Australia[87].

Op-Eds

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[88]. 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[89]. On May 29, 2020, he wrote an op-ed about the Manhattan DA engaging in selective prosecution by prosecuting Yasmin Seweid[90] in 2016 for a false criminal report, but not Amy Cooper in the Central Park “Karen” incident[91]. He also blasted the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) for advocating for forced adult vaccines, if a COVID-19 vaccine were ever developed. In the same op-ed, he criticized NYSBA for not advocating for its members, lawyers in general, when it refused to fight Cuomo’s executive order, designating lawyers as non- “essential.”[92]

Work in the community

Varghese served as president of Chaminade High School's[93] Alumni Lawyers Association from September 2017 through August 2019.[94] He has also acted as an alumni mentor to New York University's College of Arts and Science students since 2014[13] and taught clinical students from Brooklyn Law School[95] and Hofstra School of Law.[1] He has taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School,[96]Cardozo Law School,[97] and for the New York City Law Department.[98]

References
  1. "Top Rated New York, NY White Collar Crimes Attorney | Vinoo Varghese". Super Lawyers. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  2. "Culture wars in the age of Trump. TRANSCRIPT: 8/10/2018, Hardball w Chris Matthews". MSNBC. 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  3. "Ingraham Angle: Cohen Charges & Trump in Trouble – Varghese & Associates". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  4. Andrew Findley. "Vinoo Varghese | The National Trial Lawyers". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  5. "Lori Loughlin faces new charges in college admissions scandal". YouTube.
  6. December 11, CBS News; 2018; Am, 9:19. "Judge who approved no jail time for alleged Baylor rapist allowed light sentences in similar cases". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "Mistrial declared in Chanel Lewis trial". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  8. "When Cheating is Legal – Varghese & Associates". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  9. Varghese, Vinoo. "Defense attorneys are essential personnel: New coronavirus restrictions fail to protect lawyers who serve the accused". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  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 2020-05-07.
  11. "Alumni Information | Chaminade High School, Mineola, NY". www.chaminade-hs.org. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
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  13. Arts and Science Alumni Staff. "Vinoo Varghese (CAS '96), Criminal Defense Attorney, on Why He Mentors NYU Students". Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  14. "1901 Society Spotlight". www.brooklaw.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  15. ""El Chapo" reduced to tears as wife, daughters appear in court". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
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  27. "Jury Clears Construction Biz Owner In Retrial On Tax Charges - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  28. "Christopher Gooley". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  29. Berger, Joseph (2014-06-17). "Mistrial Is Declared in Malcolm Smith Corruption Trial". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  30. Gardiner, Sean (2014-06-13). "Decision in Malcolm Smith Trial Expected Monday". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  31. says, Gene Rey (2019-04-22). "Judge Denies Motion On Juror Misconduct In Vetrano Case". Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  32. Ransom, Jan (2019-04-21). "Judge Upholds Conviction in Karina Vetrano's Murder, Despite Lone Juror's Claim It Was Tainted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
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  41. "Jussie Smollett may have thrown 'a monkey wrench' into the criminal justice system, former prosecutor". Fox Business. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  42. "Mark Zuckerberg faces questions on Capitol Hill". Fox Business. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  43. "College admissions scandal faces a new revelation with Calif. father". Fox Business. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  44. "IG Report fallout: Charges against Comey unlikely?". Fox Business. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  45. "Trump has highlighted a problem in the federal system, says former prosecutor". Fox Business. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  46. "Attorney Vinoo Varghese on new charges against officers in the death of George Floyd". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  47. "COVID-19 and our legal system". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  48. "Hanukkah stabbing suspect charged with six counts of attempted murder". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  49. "Boston College student charged in graduation day suicide of her boyfriend". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  50. "Felicity Huffman's 14-day sentence sparks outrage on social media". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  51. "Former Yale women's soccer coach expected to plead guilty in college admissions scandal". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  52. "Harmeet Dhillon: Lanny Davis sold out Michael Cohen". Fox News. 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  53. "MSNBC: Trump v. Justice Roberts".
  54. "MSNBC Hardball: Troubles in the Manafort Trial & Trump Perjury Trap". YouTube.
  55. "MSNBC: Trump Tweets Put Donald Jr. At Legal Risk". YouTube.
  56. "House Democrats seek documents from Trump associates".
  57. "Court TV: Is Harvey Weinstein Getting Railroaded?". YouTube.
  58. "Court TV: Does Harvey Weinstein Deserve a Fair Trial?". YouTube.
  59. "Will Wiped Away Evidence Be Problematic?". YouTube.
  60. "Did Prosecutors Aim at Warner's Tattoos?". YouTube.
  61. "Will Harvey Weinstein Survive the Final Verdict?". YouTube.
  62. "i24 Israeli News: Breaking down Trump's Impeachment Hearings". YouTube.
  63. "i24 The Rundown: Jeffrey Epstein Case". YouTube.
  64. "i24 Israeli News: Are Driver's Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants a Good Idea?". YouTube.
  65. "i24 Israeli News: Is Impeachment the Only Way to Prevent Trump from Becoming King?". YouTube.
  66. "i24 News: Will the Seized Michael Cohen Tapes be the End of Trump?". YouTube.
  67. "i24 News: Trump Brands Himself a Nationalist". YouTube.
  68. "i24 News: Giuliani Hurting Trump by Admitting Knowledge of Payment to Daniels?". YouTube.
  69. "i24 News: Is Trump making prison great again?". YouTube.
  70. "i24 News: Kavanaugh & FBI Probe; right temperament for the Supreme Court?". YouTube.
  71. "i24 News: Trial Begins for Ex Trump Aide Paul Manafort". YouTube.
  72. "i24News: Roger Stone arrested by FBI and charged with Obstruction". YouTube.
  73. "i24News: Is Giuliani Unhinged? Will Manafort Get Bail?". YouTube.
  74. "Nexus TRT World: Is Weinstein Past The Statute of Limitations?". YouTube.
  75. "Blood Money: The Story of Theranos' Con Woman". YouTube.
  76. "Coronavirus and the Economic & Legal Effects". YouTube.
  77. "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.
  78. "HLN: Philly Man Carjacks Kids, Then Dad & Crowd Kills Him. Vigilante Justice or Self Defense?". YouTube.
  79. "HLN Weekend Express: R. Kelly Arrested While Walking His Dog". YouTube.
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  84. "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.
  85. Varghese, Vinoo (2017-07-21). "Why O.J. Simpson should still be killing time in prison". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  86. "In the Corona Age are Lawyers Necessary?". YouTube.
  87. Siegel, Shayna Jacobs, Jefferson. "Muslim college student who lied about Trump supporter subway attack pleads guilty". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  88. May 29, Vinoo Varghese |; AM, 2020 at 11:12. "Prosecuting Karen—Amy Cooper and the Selective Prosecution of Yasmine Seweid". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  89. June 05, Vinoo Varghese |; AM, 2020 at 10:00. "Is the New York State Bar Association Relevant?". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
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