I think you’re onto something!
2 Likes
I’m a lawyer and I agree. Avenatti is most impressive. He’ll destroy Trump and Michael Cohen in his litigation.
6 Likes
Oh come on, salacious sex gossip is what everyone tuned in for! (Except me, I was planting tomatoes. But I’ll watch it later today.)
Avenetti’s like the new kid in school who the big bully tries to intimidate, not knowing that the new kid has a second-degree black belt. Soon the big bully will run away crying.
3 Likes
Cohen’s lawyer, Blakely, appears to be a sole practitioner in Manhattan Beach. Just like Trump, Cohen seems unable to get an A-team big firm lawyer to represent him. Wonder if he will need another home equity loan to pay Blakely’s fees.
3 Likes
Hmmm, he’s in California? I’ll look him later on the State Bar’s public website.
ETA: He was admitted to California Bar in 1991, went to law school at Pepperdine, which is in California. He has his own firm, so he is probably a sole practitioner or maybe has an associate or two.
1 Like
It wasn’t the osso buco.
2 Likes
From the article:
One of the few Republicans to comment, South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford, told the Washington Post the claims were “deeply troubling”.
If Mark “Appalacia Trail” Sanford finds the claims deeply troubling, what does the “holier than thou” crowd think?
2 Likes
Decent summary. Vox.com has a huge detailed summary, and they conclude Daniels may win or lose the lawsuit, but Cohen is screwed.
“If [Cohen] is speaking truthfully that Trump had no knowledge of the payment, he signed a document on behalf of a client (and ostensibly binding the client) without either consulting with his client or securing his consent. That would be a clear ethical breach,” Turley writes. “If he did not have Trump’s consent, his representations to Daniels would appear false and potentially fraudulent.”
The ethical baggage for Cohen doesn’t end there. He could also face censure or even disbarment for making Daniels sign a false statement denying the affair under the New York Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility, which states, “In the representation of a client, a lawyer shall not … Knowingly make a false statement of law or fact.” If Daniels’s allegation says that Cohen coerced her to release the false statement, that could bring even worse consequences for him.
Cohen also appears to have, by getting the February 27 restraining order, engaged in legal practice in California without being a member of the California Bar. That is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
10 Likes
Would an incompetent lawyer know how a competent lawyer should lawyer?
3 Likes
Very weirdly self-incriminating cease-and-desist letter.
Daniels’ assertion on 60 Minutes that she had been threatened contained the clear innuendo that the threat–which explicily demanded that she forget about Trump–was authorized by DT or someone acting on his behalf.
However: there was no innuendo that Cohen as such was involved, since Trump has many people who work for him. So Cohen simply has no basis in law for suing. Any defamation suit he might bring would be tossed out on a preliminary motion.
Note that a letter before action in a defamation case, if it is written by lawyers with some knowledge of this specialized field, invariably spells out any innuendo that is alleged to be defamatory. This letter doesn’t do that.
So if I were Avenatti I would craft a statement that said (1) this threatened doesn’t even rise to the level of legal plausibility (for the reasons mentioned above); (2) no cease and desist undertaking by Daniels would be appropriate given that she has never alleged Cohen’s involvement in the first place; (3) that being so, this letter can only be interpreted as a gratuitous and wrongful instance of attempted intimidation. (4) The letter also operates as a subconscious admission of Cohen’s involvement in the events in question. Only a person with such involvement would be likely to interpret what Daniels said as an attack on him.
13 Likes
I’m not a lawyer, but even I don’t think he has a case. (No need for a response/explanation. Not worth anyone’s energy.)
The way the Stormy team has dared Cohen to deny the accusations suggests that they have tangible evidence for everything they are claiming. There is likely a threat from Cohen on that data disc.
2 Likes
We watched the first episode in the limited series on HBO about the Getty kidnapping last night. At one point the old man, who has a harem, is talking to his lawyers about some other woman who is claiming to have been one of his harem women and he tells the lawyer - send the usual cease and desist letter then file a defamation suit.
Standard practice for rich old lechers.
5 Likes
The week is still young.
4 Likes
I’m glad to hear somebody in the business say that. That’s what I thought, too, but the inside view means more.
7 Likes
In 5…4…3…2…1…
3 Likes
Getting spanked with a rolled up magazine like a dog who peed on the carpet.
6 Likes
“Deplorable” was not far-reaching enough in hindsight.
3 Likes
I know it’s a bit contrarian, but I continue to find it intriguing that Trump most aggressively pursues women who have a kind of certificate of attractiveness from other men. If they’re widely considered hotties, if other men look at them lustfully, he’s all about it. Model, athlete, singer, princess, Playboy bunny (is that even a thing any more?), porn star, on and on. Normal women you meet might be interesting to abuse and dominate in a passing encounter, but that’s all. Just part of my belief that what motivates him is always sicker and weirder than what you might imagine.
10 Likes