‘Insane’: Pro-Duterte supporters mistake American author Nicholas Kaufmann for ICC lawyer

Metro Manila, Philippines - “I am not the ICC lawyer,” American author Nicholas Kaufmann said, appealing to Filipino netizens to stop messaging him after they mistook him for the lead legal counsel of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court.

“I am being absolutely flooded today with followers and commenters from the Philippines who, I guess, don’t believe I’m not Duterte’s lawyer,” he said.

“Our names aren’t even spelled the same (he’s Kaufman with one N). It’s insane,” the author clarified.

Kaufman also pinned a March 21 post on his page where he begged Filipinos stop bombarding him with private messages which he said were more “pro-Duterte” comments.

Replying to a comment in the same post, Kaufmann said he has also started receiving apologetic messages from “anti-Duterte” Filipinos.

Kaufmann is a horror, urban fantasy, and adventure fiction writer who is known for his novelette General Slocum’s Gold and novella Chasing Dragon – literary pieces which he was nominated for several awards for.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Kaufman – who he was mistaken for – is a British-Israeli lawyer who is one of the few accredited lawyers of the International Criminal Court.