Cohen could be disbarred over Stormy payment, says Northwestern Law professor

[Tanuki]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/if-michael-cohen-is-telling-the-truth-about-his-stormy-daniels-payment-he-can-be-disbarred.html
...."As a New York lawyer, Cohen is required to follow Rule 1.8 of New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which provides that “While representing a client in connection with contemplated or pending litigation, a lawyer shall not advance or guarantee financial assistance to the client.” There are some exceptions for indigent clients, which are obviously inapplicable to Trump, so the only real issue is whether Cohen’s payment was made in connection with litigation. If so, it is pretty clear that Cohen has violated his state’s legal ethics rules.
We know, of course, that Daniels’s Nondisclosure Agreement has ultimately ended up in court, but that is not the question. The real issue is whether the payment, when made, was related to litigation, rather than, say, a contract or other transaction.

Fortunately, the NDA—which uses the pseudonyms PP and DD for Daniels and Trump—was appended to Daniels’s current lawsuit, so we can turn to the document itself for more relevant information. According to Paragraph 2.2, “PP claims that she has been damaged by DD’s alleged actions against her, including but not limited to tort claims.” Paragraph 2.5, meanwhile, explains that “The Parties wish to avoid the time, expense, and inconvenience of potential litigation, and to resolve any and all disputes and potential legal claims which exist or may exist between them.”

It doesn’t take a lawyer to recognize that that Trump-Daniels agreement “contemplated” litigation, which means that Cohen’s “financial assistance” was prohibited under the New York ethics rules.

Cohen probably won’t have to worry much about the election law violation, which can only be prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Daniels affair is unrelated to the Russia probe, which means that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not recused and Special Counsel Robert Mueller won’t likely be looking into it. Sessions is already on thin ice with Trump, so the chances that he will indict his boss’s attorney are pretty much nil.

The New York bar authorities, however, are not under the control of the White House, and they have no reason to ignore Cohen’s evident flouting of the ethics rules. Other New York lawyers have been disciplined for simply making loans to struggling clients in tort-related cases, and the same has happened in other states (all of which have similar rules). A disciplinary complaint by the Attorney Grievance Committee —which could lead to suspension or disbarment—might well cause Cohen to be more fully candid about the precise origin of the funds for the Daniels payoff.".... (More at link)

[Gabi Hayes]

1. Haaaaaaa. The only way he wont is if Trump admits his role in the Stormy deal. Think he will?

Gonna be fun, either way

Cohen is just the story of lawyer you’d expect to be at Trump’s beck and call....a wannabe Roy Cohn, with ties to Russia, of course

Take your pick

https://www.google.com/search?q=cohen+russia+ties&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

[dchill]

2. This could be fun!

[Achilleaze]

3. That would be the decent, honorable thing to do

So fahgetaboutit. republicans are calling the shots. They just do not do decent or honorable.

[Civic Justice]

4. Many violations as pointed out "do exist"

The American public who supports Democratic Values and Respect the Civic Understanding of America's values, should be appalled at the fact and acts within this situation of Trump and Stormy Daniels which exist. Then to have a attorney that is suppose to be a personal attorney for a man who is President, who does this kind of thing as paying off someone for silence about a moral issue of a person who is pursuing the Presidency.

America is about selecting Candidates who represent the honorable values of American people and has moral fiber in character and integrity.

We've clearly seen and continue to see cycles and habits of Republican led desecration's of not only our laws, but the cultural values of a multicultural american society who support the democratic premise and its principles and it moral manner.
The mere act of pursuing to silence this woman, when the matter she addresses is about the moral codes that Americans expect in their elected officials.
At no time does America support any person in any office to be above the law, nor to be devoid of moral premise to the extent that Trump and those connected to him continue to present. They insult our civil society and the values that we supports to uphold Democracy.

We will not accept it as some Trump claimed "Fake News" or him lying saying he knew nothing and he did not thing. His history is filled with every element of vile that tarnishes our society, from his strong arm antics against local officials who could not fight back, when he attacked them to gain tax concessions, the known history of money washing, the known history of functioning as a gangster, the historical racism that goes back to the days of his father, to the delusion that he can manipulate our Law enforcement agencies, and desecrate our Intelligence agencies, and wreak havoc in every department and divisions of our governance, by the incessant methods and means he tries to defame them and denigrate their work. America can now see that the Dossier compiled by the British Agent, that has been pushed to the back burner, should be brought back to the forefront. it too, discussed his immorality and lack of character and integrity, that Americans expect in a President.

It is not big mystery that Cohn was working based on orders to silence this woman; the fact the money was paid, and under the situation to avoid information being made public and the acts created of a NDA in the midst of a campaign, to silence her should itself violate the basic ethics of information that is necessary for citizens to make an informed summation about a candidate.

I do think that within the investigations, there is means to address this matter, because it goes into areas of tampering with our election system, as well as illegality in funds usage that is clearly meant to benefit Trump, it violates the ethics that it must uphold in more ways than the media is addressing.

[gopiscrap]

7. welcome to du

[kacekwl]

5. Let's go. Get the paperwork started and filed Monday a.m. .

[TomCADem]

6. This Is What I Was Wondering. He Got Caught Money Laundering...

...as well as scheming to avoid campaign disclosure rules, as well as self-dealing by now claiming that he is the party to the contract with Stormy Daniels who is entitled to enforce it for the benefit of his buddy, Donald Trump.