Pres. Trump says he has no no idea why a lawyer representing him paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels. See CBS news report. He was asked if he knew about Michael Cohen’s payment of $130,000 to Stormy. The President answered, “no.” He added the reporter should ask his lawyer, Michael Cohen, about the payment. “Michael
Pres. Trump cannot Find a Lawyer
Hiring a lawyer poses perils for any client. Not only must the lawyer have sufficient expertise and competence, the client needs to get along with the lawyer. They are locked in a major endeavor that will last months, if not years. Yes, a lawyer can quit or be fired. The client can quit or be
Stormy Daniels’ Supposed Liquidated Damages
Stormy Daniels signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Michael Cohen. There is a place on the agreement for the signature of “David Dennison,” who is probably Donald Trump. Mr. Dennison/Trump never signed the agreement. The NDA includes a liquidated damages provision. “Liquidated” damages simply means damages would be hard to determine, so the parties agree in
McCabe Fired While Trump Tweeted
Andrew McCabe, former Deputy FBI Director was fired late Friday, the last work day before his retirement would have vested. After he was fired, Politico released an interview in which the embattled Deputy explained that Pres. Trump had been after him, tweeting about him since late December, 2017. It was in December when it became
Petersen Withdraws His Nomination
Matthew Spencer Petersen has withdraw his nomination for a federal judicial post. See CBS news report. I wrote about his awful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee here. Mr. Petersen essentially admitted that he had no background in litigation or criminal law. Being a judge, he would need to know a bit about
Petersen Never Conducted a Trial, Never Argued a Motion
Pres. Trump has nominated some crazy folks for lifetime federal judgeships. Four have been rated unqualified by the ABA’s volunteer committee of some 160 lawyers on federal judicial nominations. One such nominee, Matthew Spencer Petersen was questioned by Sen. Kennedy (R-La). Mr. Petersen could not answer the most basic litigation questions. Mr. Petersen is just
Donald, Jr. Claims (Bogus) Attorney Client Privilege
Ummmmm, no. Don Trump. Jr. has claimed attorney client privilege in refusing to answer questions about a conversation he had with then Candidate Trump in 2016. There was a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 between Donald Trump, Sr., Donald, Jr., and a lawyer. Early on, Donald, Jr. said it was a brief meeting
Presidential Tweets are “Official,” Sort of
The thing about lawsuits and making stuff up is you just cannot predict how things will turn out. Pres. Trump has been sued by the James Madison Project, an intelligence watchdog group, and Politico seeking documents related to his tweets that are in turn related to Russia. In James Madison Project v. Dept. of Justice
ABA Rates Judge Not Qualified
The American Bar Association hs been reviewing proposed judges’ qualifications for decades. The President nominates a federal judge, and the ABA reviews and assigns a rating. For the first time since 2006, it has publicly rated a judge “not qualified.” It found Leonard Steven Grasz, a Nebraska lawyer, unqualified for the the position of judge
Ghost Hunter Nominated for Federal Judge
Among Pres. Trump’s recent nominations for a judgeship is Brett Talley, Harvard graduate, and conservative blogger. He is rated as “not qualified” by the American Bar Association standing committee on judicial nominations. The committee’s vote to rate him not qualified was unanimous. He is also a paranormal investigator, a ghost hunter. He is young for