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Jason Ian Poblete represents individuals and corporations in both domestic and international matters. Poblete helps clients navigate the complex legal and, at times, political, federal interagency regulatory and legislative processes, primarily in issues overseen by the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce, and Congress.
A national security law and international law expert, Jason advises companies on compliance with U.S. export control laws, defense of fundamental and human rights, economic sanctions, and related matters such as “traditional” space and NewSpace. He advises companies on setting up compliance programs related to economic sanctions and export controls and represents clients in administrative and other proceedings on sanctions matters.
Before forming Poblete Tamargo in 2010, he worked as a senior attorney in the Global Regulatory Litigation Group of Reed Smith LLP. Before Reed Smith, Poblete was a senior advisor to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), and on the senior staff of a Congressional committee. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, he was selected several times by the editors of Roll Call newspaper as one of the “50 Most Influential Staffers” in Congress. Poblete worked for seven years at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 1993, the year before the Republican Party won control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.
As an expert on federal regulatory matters, administrative rule-making, federal legislative procedure, and congressional investigations, he concentrates his practice in trade compliance, export controls for defense articles and dual-use items, encryption controls, economic sanctions, and human rights. He has conducted and participated in numerous compliance audits in the United States and foreign countries.
Both on and off Capitol Hill, he has assisted or been part of Congressional oversight processes and investigations. He has testified before Congress on bringing to justice foreign leaders accused of gross violations of fundamental rights and atrocity crimes and served as an expert witness on economic sanctions in a case before the United Kingdom High Court of Justice.
Jason has advocated on behalf of U.S. Persons held hostage or unlawfully detained by foreign governments, political opposition leaders in foreign countries, and a former foreign head of state and his family persecuted for their pro-democracy efforts. Jason has successfully secured the release of several Americans unjustly imprisoned or held hostage by foreign governments. He has used these high-level negotiation skills in his practice to help deconflict matters.
He has represented multinational corporations, publicly traded companies, a Native American tribe (the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida), non-governmental and international organizations, and companies from these industries: defense, telecommunications, aviation, advertising, energy, pharmaceuticals, international shipping, Internet, and software development firms. He has also represented individuals and families with claims against foreign governments for unlawfully confiscating property. The firm has also advised families on claims against foreign governments, such as the Guam War Claims Program and the Cuba Claims Program.
A staunch advocate of the importance of private property rights, the rule of law, and other fundamental freedoms, Poblete testified in 2007 before a Special Committee of the United Nations (UN) in New York; has advocated on behalf of clients before numerous committees of the U.S. Congress and international organizations such as INTERPOL, and counseled clients on matters under review by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS).
In 2016 he founded a non-profit, the Global Liberty Alliance, dedicated to advocating in defense of individual fundamental rights, free markets, and the rule of law. The Alliance specializes in representing politically persecuted persons by totalitarian governments and assisting law enforcement in bringing perpetrators of atrocity crimes to justice. For his work on behalf of Americans and others unlawfully imprisoned or held hostage in foreign countries, in 2020, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation awarded him the Hostage Freedom Award. He is primarily focused on leveraging new technologies to create environments where liberty and justice can flourish, empowering individuals and communities to thrive.
A Past Chairman of the National Security Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of International Law, he is a member of the ABA Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, and the American Society of International Law (ASIL). For personal and professional reasons, he has had a life-long interest in political, defense, economic, and security developments in the Western Hemisphere and the linkages between other regions and the Americas in emerging transnational threats, political, economic, and rule of law matters.
Jason has been a guest on national and international news programs, including CNN, CNBC, CNN Español, NBC Telemundo, USIA, BBC, Channel 4 News (UK), and on Spanish-language television public affairs programs in Spain and Latin America. Jason has published op-eds or been quoted in U.S. and international publications such as The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The New York Times, The American Spectator, Roll Call, Al Arabiya, Reuters, POLITICO, The Hill, The Miami Herald, The Washington Examiner, McClatchy News, Associated Press, Corporate Compliance Insights, World ECR: Journal of Export Controls and Economic Sanctions (UK), RCN Colombia, and La Prensa (Nicaragua).
Jason and his wife, Dr. Yleem Poblete, Ph.D., are active members of the Order of Malta, and he is a Life Member of the National Eagle Scout Association. In addition to his law degree, he earned a Master’s degree from Georgetown University (Thesis topic: U.S. economic sanctions towards Cuba) and a B.A., with a regional concentration in Latin American studies, from Florida International University. In addition to the Federalist Society, Jason is a member of the American Society of International Law.
He is a member of the Camera Club of Brevard, the Photographic Society of America, and the Association of Commercial Space Professionals. A Florida resident, he splits his time between Washington, D.C., and Florida’s Space Coast in Melbourne, where he enjoys photography, surf fishing, and other outdoor activities.
Bar & Court Admissions
- Commonwealth of Virginia
- District of Columbia
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Education
- J.D., George Mason University School of Law
- M.A., Georgetown University
- B.A., Florida International University
Languages
- English
- Spanish
- Italian (working proficiency)
Recent Cases and Expert Opinions
- Congressional-Executive Commission on China, U.S. Congress, Unjustly Detained Americans in China on (Sept. 2024).
- Parliament of Australia, Senate, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee Inquiry on Wrongful Detentions of Australian Overseas (Sept. 2024) (video).
- USAF Capt. Daniel Knick v. Secretary of Defense, et al., 1:22-cv-01267 (D.D.C. 2022).
- Fattouch et. al. v. Republic of Lebanon et. al., 1:20-cv-02599 (D.D.C. 2020).
- Shahini v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, 1:18-cv-01619 (D.D.C. 2018).
- Poblete Tamargo v. U.S. Dep’t of State, 1:18-cv-02355 (D.D.C. 2018).
- Mamancochet Mining Ltd. -v- Aegis Managing Agency Ltd. and others, High Court of Justice in England, [2018] EWHC 2643 (Comm), as an expert witness on U.S. economic sanctions.
A sampling of Media and Talks
- Mel Gibson gives thanks for release of US man held by China, The Hill (Nov. 27, 2024).
- Iran reportedly executes California man amid ongoing execution spree: ‘Murdered by the regime,’ Fox News (Nov. 5, 2024).
- “Hamas Takes ‘Dozens’ of Americans Hostage in Gaza,” Tablet, interview and quoted (Oct. 9, 2023).
- (video) News Nation: Jimmy Sharmahd from California, Unjustly Detained in Iran (Sep. 9, 2023).
- (video) News Nation: American Mark Swidan has been ‘tortured for years’ in China: Attorney (Aug. 27, 2023).
- “The Levinson Act means all Americans must return home—not just citizens,” The Atlantic Council, quoted (Aug. 17, 2023).
- “CSIS Launches Bipartisan Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention,” PT Law Jason Poblete, a member of the Commission, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (June 1, 2023).
- “Brittney Griner’s Fight for Freedom,” TIME, interview and quoted (Jul. 27, 2022).
- “As the US works to bring Brittney Griner home, a Luling mother has been missing her son for 10 years,” KVUE TV (Houston), interview (Jul. 24, 2022).
- “Castro confiscated his apartments in Cuba. American diplomats and now tourists stay in them,” The Miami Herald, interview and quoted (Jan. 10, 2022).
- “Why Families of U.S. Hostages Overseas Are Growing Frustrated with Biden,” TIME, interview and quoted (Oct. 27, 2021).
- “From internet access to military intervention, calls grow for tangible actions against Cuba,” NBC News, interview and quoted (Aug. 6, 2021).
- American student Xiyue Wang freed in prisoner swap after three years in Iran jail,” NBC News, interview and quoted (Dec. 19, 2021).
- Radio Farda interview about the unlawful detention by Iran of Lebanese national and US LPR Nizar Zakka (Feb. 18, 2018).
- Al Arabiya television interview on the unlawful detention by Iran of Americans and other dual-nationals (Feb. 14, 2018).
- Cited, The Cuba Conundrum, Corporate Governance, and Compliance, Challenges of U.S. Publicly-Traded Companies, Univ. of Pa., J.Bus.L, Vol 18, No. 3 (Spring 2016).
- Poblete presented at eMerge/eGov Americas conference in Miami, Florida on compliance with U.S. economic sanctions concerning Cuba (April 18, 2016).
- Compliance with U.S. export controls and economic sanctions as applicable to Cuba, Emerging Markets Trade Association, New York (December 8, 2015).
- Interview on CNBC discussing claims against foreign governments and U.S. economic sanctions (July 20, 2015).