Spy case legend hired by Edward Snowden speaks about five-decade career
Veteran of high-profile US espionage cases believes his vast experience will help NSA whistle-blower, who fled to Russia from HK
A veteran lawyer who could hold the key to Edward Snowden's eventual return to the United States has spoken of his fivedecade career cutting deals for some of America's most notorious spies.
Washington-based legal heavyweight Plato Cacheris has been retained by the whistle-blower, who was granted temporary asylum in Russia.
And he spoke to the Sunday Morning Post as the first anniversary approaches of former National Security Agency contractor going public in Hong Kong with revelations that mass digital surveillance by the US extended to targets in China.
Cacheris, 84, has defended many clients charged under the US Espionage Act, including saving an FBI agent who spied for the Russians from the death penalty and others from long jail sentences. He stressed he could not talk about the Snowden brief, but said he believed his vast experience of defending people charged under the Espionage Act put him in a good position with US government prosecutors.
"All cases are unique, but the fact that I have dealt in these types of cases is known by the prosecutors, so they know that we can talk on a level that's a little bit higher than with most lawyers," Cacheris said.
"They are far different from routine cases. They are very complex, they are very interesting and yes, they are the cases I enjoy the most. We know what we want to do, how we want to do it and we do not talk to the press until the case is over," Cacheris said.