How could you trust the process when part of Atty. Nicholas Kaufman's strategy is to seek help from the very government that sent Duterte to The Hague, Netherlands?
𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬
(𝐌𝐢𝐬)𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐟𝐦𝐚𝐧
By: TH
As the denial of interim release of Duterte sets in, advocates for Kaufman are starting to defend him before he’s being attacked. Staging for critics to be deemed adversaries and trying to silence them by saying accountability ends where Tribunal Judgement begins. However true that effort does not guarantee results, not doing the basics in litigation is a first to be held accountable to. The assumption that Kaufman would lack accountability is a gross misconception on the requirements for proper and professional litigation. Of course he is accountable for his work.Otherwise, how could he take credit for the disqualification of Khan?
Atty. Salvador Medialdea represented Duterte at the first appearance before the ICC pre-trial chamber on March 14, 2025. Medialdea accompanied Duterte during his abduction from the Philippines just days before. During the first appearance, Medialdea made it very clear “This is not an arrest, this is an extrajudicial rendition or in laymen’s terms a “pure and simple
kidnapping”.
The appointment of Kaufman
Requested by Duterte on March 14, during his appearance, confirmed on March 17 by the court and publicly announced on March 18, Kaufman was appointed the defense lawyer for Duterte. Kaufman’s application and following appointment was never an evident choice and soon raised eyebrows. Nonetheless, Kaufman had the support of the family and quickly became a symbol of hope because of his social media appearances.
Kaufman’s relation to Marcos
Is Kaufman the loyal and competent lawyer to defend Duterte? As a previous lawyer to Imelda Marcos, the former first lady to dictator Marcos and mother of Bong Bong Marcos, Kaufman had at least a professional relationship with a member of the Marcos family. Remarkable is the relationship which became visible very quickly, Kaufman’s personal connection to Senator Imee Marcos (BBM’s sister). They were seen having an engaged conversation on camera. There is a non-disputable relationship between Kaufman and the Marcos family. The Marcos family on majority is a sworn opponent to the Duterte’s. Bong Bong Marcos even arranged the plane for Duterte to be thrown out of the country.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥, 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡, 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙆𝙖𝙪𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣. Kaufman could have never accepted this job knowing his former and current relations, no matter his statements trying to convince people otherwise. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨. It becomes even more disheartening when you would consider Kaufman actively applied for the job. Comparing this to the defense’s grounds for disqualification of Khan based on integrity issues, one could say this appears as an even greater perception of bias.
On strategy and empty statements
At the start Kaufman is fully set to emphasize the lack of jurisdiction of the ICC and the violation of Duterte’s rights during the so-called arrest. He emphasizes the arrest has been conducted illegally. Simultaneously, Kaufman urges everybody also on behalf of the family to respect the judicial process. Likely this respect for the judicial process request, originates from alleged offers to the family to extract Duterte from The Hague imprisonment, which they would have rejected if true. Later, the prosecution uses this to discredit the family’s intentions. They use it as one of the arguments to reject the bid for interim release which the court did on October 10, attempting to directly discredit the Vice President and therefore making this political in nature.
Every time the family visits Duterte or when Kaufman exits the detention center bloggers stand outside to ask questions. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙆𝙖𝙪𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 ‘𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙨. No information on the defense strategy emerges until the first signs of declining health start to come out. Kaufman’s strategy at that time already shifted to requesting interim release whilst postponing the decision on jurisdiction. The dispute to the legality of the arrest seems to have disappeared. 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙩. In The Senate of The Philippines, the arrest has meanwhile been judged to be illegal, criminal complaints against the officials in charge have officially been filed.
Kaufman’s actions
Kaufman keeps focusing on interim release and is double crossed by the Presidential spokesperson in the act. On an officially submitted defense argumentation he quotes Usec. Claire Castro, who quite firmly denies having said the disputed contents “The Philippines don’t object to any outcome on the interim release”. 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙆𝙖𝙪𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙤𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝘿𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚
Even more interesting are the official court records concerning the interim release. You can argue
that the medical arguments itself would be enough but when they are contested by the prosecution and the victim’s lawyers you need to counter, that is basic litigation. 𝙏𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩 𝙆𝙖𝙪𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨. You cannot really oversee all details on postponing requests, so it is hard to judge about the value of those acts, also because the records are heavily redacted.
The court records show the number of arguments put forth by the defense opposed to the greater number of arguments put forth by the prosecution and the OPCV. It seems Kaufman missed a reply to these arguments and accepted the dismissal of the medical arguments put forth by the defense.
Quotations of political speeches brought before as facts without context. Not debunking the narrative that the family is considering taking Duterte out by themselves. Bringing up the endless resources of the family. All those statements by the prosecution and the victims and no defense by Kaufman. Later, Kaufman had a scripted interview stating there will be an appeal on the rejection of the request for interim release. He stated documents have already been submitted. He will address mistakes made in the ruling he deemed had insufficient merit, but what about his own mistakes?
Kaufman’s ‘success’, disqualifying Khan
The voluntary leave of absence that Khan took on May 16, 2025, was most probably inspired by his eminent demise as an alleged sex-offender. Khan was not returning to the case any time soon. Even the OPCV indicates in their submission as a response to the request for disqualification, it is no longer necessary. Legally if there is no expected result, the procedure is considered as void or lacking effect. Still Kaufman invests quite some time in the request for disqualification.
The court even assisted Kaufman when his team quoted the incorrect specific article in the Rome Statute. Nonetheless, Khan is disqualified but not really considered biased. 𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜
Even though I am not a lawyer myself, I observe this kind of procedure seems to divert from the real defense. Evidence was compromised from the start, resulting in a baseless investigation and therefore an invalid arrest. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙞𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩.
Just trying to understand
Why doesn’t attorney Kaufman object, respond, defend or even more so why doesn’t he proceed with the real procedure, request to junk the case? We can only guess on Kaufman’s strategy if I generously call it a strategy.
Observing the court records and the empty statements by Kaufman, I cannot help but deem him unfit to be Duterte’s attorney. Is it ulterior motive, incompetence or both. This is not about accepting legal outcome, it is about looking at the whole picture and observing the defense is absent. 𝙆𝙖𝙪𝙛𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝘿𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙚’𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩. To the Duterte family: isn’t it time to act and change team to one that is not aligned with Marcos?
