General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnybody have a theory as to why Lanny Davis
released Cohen's tape? What's the strategy?
manor321
(3,344 posts)The audio shows otherwise.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)Probably done to show that it wasn't Cohen's idea to pay with cash.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Funny - I just flipped over to Fox (Hannity) and they are trashing Michael Cohen and saying what an awful person he is.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)until he turned against Trump and now looks like he might roll on him.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)For his past transgressions?
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But as we all know, theres no honor among thieves. In the end they cut their own throat.
unblock
(52,208 posts)shanny
(6,709 posts)unblock
(52,208 posts)Ah, watergate.
Good times.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)His defense is that Cohen was a fixer that only did what he was bidded to do and wasn't an accountant and couldn't have known about the bank fraud stuff. The reality is that Cohen is going to likely be a key witness in Trump's indictment.
lapfog_1
(29,199 posts)to provide more distraction from Helsinki and the agreements he may have made (did make) with Putin in secret.
TRMS was in a groove explaining the editing of the news conference transcript AND video by both the Russians and the White House to make it look like Putin did NOT say he wanted Trump to win...
Rachel went to the release of the Cohen tape halfway through... I think they should have ignored it and left the tape to Lawrence.
It is another shiny ball... just like the enemies list and the yanking of security clearance.
The "take a knee" distraction from last weekend didn't work..
oberliner
(58,724 posts)lapfog_1
(29,199 posts)and say "we withdraw any claim of lawyer-client privledge"... knowing that Davis would jump at the chance to make his client look like a patriot and possible "get out of jail free" recipient (either pardon from Trump or immunity from prosecutors)?
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)about the contents of the tape, the idea is that privilege was then waived and that allows Cohen's attorney to release the tape without adverse repercussion.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)It means that for Trump to even speculate on it through his lapdog, any speculation will allow for a release of the tapes.
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)Guiliani's characterization of the content.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)unblock
(52,208 posts)If I had a privileged conversation with my lawyer, I think I can go on tv and publicly say I talked to my lawyer and lie with reckless abandon about the conversation and my lawyer is still bound to silence about it.
In this particular case, I'm not clear on whether this particular tape was deemed to be privileged or not in the first place.
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)waived. If there is a beef, then tRump should go after Guiliani for improper waiver of tRump's privilege.
unblock
(52,208 posts)If they talk about it *in court* then I agree with you.
But in public I think they're free to lie all they want about it.
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)tape in public, regardless of the description of the dialogue, then that is when privilege can be deemed waived. In this case, Guiliani is acting on tRump's behalf and is supposedly aware of the contents of a privileged conversation tRump had with another attorney. Guiliani then put the content of that discussion out in public.
unblock
(52,208 posts)Say I have a privileged conversation with my lawyer during which I confess to a crime and we discuss a plea deal and end up rejecting it for now at least and we agree to plead not guilty and go to trial.
Then I go hold a press conference and I say I talked about the plea deal with my lawyer and I told him I didn't do it so we're not taking any deal.
Are you saying that my lawyer is then free to reveal that I confessed? Or that my lawyer can be compelled to testify against me?
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)this with others, then other people know of your conversation. The privilege can then be deemed waived. In the case of this Cohen tape, Lanny Davis would not have released that tape if he had not been very sure that tRump's privilege in the contents of that tape was waived. Otherwise, Davis would be in a heap of trouble.
unblock
(52,208 posts)My working assumption is that this tape was one of the pieces deemed not to be privileged.
And no, waivers of privilege cannot function the way you describe. It simply would never work.
"Did your lawyer explain the charges against you?"
"Yes"
"Aha! Gotcha!"
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)unblock
(52,208 posts)but it doesn't clarify how technically (or even convincingly if) privilege was waived.
the conclusion appears to be that donnie waived it as part of the effort to leak the tape.
i don't think, though, that he technically waived it purely by ghouliani talking about it. i don't think it could possibly work for it to be so simple as the mere mention of something and poof, all your attorney-client privilege goes up in smoke.
what i think happened is that donnie/ghouliani made it clear that they wanted this tape leaked and that they wouldn't go after anyone who leaked it, that they were waiving any privilege. i don't think this happened purely based on the limited public statements we know about, but it's fair to assume that it happened based on that plus other statements we don't know about.
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)This is from a reputable law firm in California
https://www.shouselaw.com/lawyer-privilege.html#3 The relevant section from their website is:
3. Waiver of the California Attorney-Client Privilege
In addition to the exceptions to the privilege discussed above, you can also waivethat is, eliminatethe lawyer-client privilege by voluntarily doing either of the following:
Disclosing a significant part of the privileged communication between you and your lawyer to a third party, or
Consenting to the disclosure of that privileged communication by anyone else.36
Example: Henry has been charged with Penal Code 261 rape but argues that the sex was consensual.
The events giving rise to the charges are complicated and ambiguous, and Henry prepares a lengthy written summary of them for his criminal defense attorney.
Ordinarily, that summary would be protected by the lawyer-client privilege. But Henry then posts that summary on his personal blog so that his friends can see his side of the story.
Because Henry disclosed the summary of events voluntarily, that summary is no longer protected by the lawyer-client privilege. (However, other things he shares in confidence with his lawyer still are.)
And if you fail to claim the attorney-client privilege in a court proceeding where you have the right to do so, you will be deemed to have consented to the disclosure of privileged information (and thus waived the privilege) in that proceeding.37
My belief is that tRump consented to the disclosure of his privileged communication by his agent and legal representative, Guiliani. By not objecting publicly to this disclosure, tRump validated his consent for Guiliani to do so.
former9thward
(32,002 posts)There is no waiver. Just internet lawyers.
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)former9thward
(32,002 posts)None of the rest. The waived it because it backs Trump's version of the story.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)Trump doesn't want anyone to know he actually discusses details of his subordinate's activities with them. Because then he becomes a conspirator. Which he is. And now you know.
Cicada
(4,533 posts)Lanny has long said that everything gets out and that harm is minimized by getting it all out as soon as possible. It is his theory of crisis management. Get it all out, get it out fast.
Demonaut
(8,914 posts)UTUSN
(70,686 posts)GHOULIANI and SHITLER were imprinting their version that the tape put it all on COHEN and "exculpated" SHITLER, so DAVIS wanted the tape to reverse this.