The (many) indictments of Donald Trump

#17,277
#17,277
I'm by no means an expert but have enough FEC filing experience for PAC at employer.

I see where the State is trying to get to but I'm not past token, non-criminal violations...
 
#17,278
#17,278
BigOrangeMojo said:
No, but reimbursing a lawyer who is not on retainer for expenses they incurred and creating fake invoices saying payment is per retainer agreement is exactly what this statute was intended for.

Again, without a secondary crime, just a misdemeanor though
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uhhh, comptroller testified that he just used dropdown from a preset list when recording the expense "Legal" was the only thing that fit. He never spoke to Trump about this at all and didnt really speak to Trump that much anyway as chief bookkeeper.

You guys clearly have no idea how business is done. Law firm bills you for a combined bill - its "legal expenses". You only have maybe 10-20 categories.
 
#17,280
#17,280
Gandalf said:
uhhh, comptroller testified that he just used dropdown from a preset list when recording the expense "Legal" was the only thing that fit. He never spoke to Trump about this at all and didnt really speak to Trump that much anyway as chief bookkeeper.

You guys clearly have no idea how business is done. Law firm bills you for a combined bill - its "legal expenses". You only have maybe 10-20 categories.
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I absolutely clearly know how accounting is done. They created invoices to represent a transaction or agreement that did not exist in reality...

You clearly have partisan blinders on here. With all that being said, this ain't a felony...
 
#17,285
#17,285
BigOrangeMojo said:
No, but reimbursing a lawyer who is not on retainer for expenses they incurred and creating fake invoices saying payment is per retainer agreement is exactly what this statute was intended for.

Again, without a secondary crime, just a misdemeanor though
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Got a link to these fake invoices??? I haven't seen that yet..where is specifically say retainer..
 
#17,286
#17,286
Perspective:


Blake Masters
@bgmasters

It's hard to put into words the staggering corruption of Alvin Bragg's kangaroo court in New York City:

- The District Attorney lowers half of all felonies to misdemeanors yet raised a misdemeanor to a felony in order to indict Trump.
- The lead prosecutor was a DNC consultant and number 3 at Biden’s DOJ before being hired by Bragg to go after Trump.
- The other lead prosecutor donated over $1,000 to Joe Biden and ActBlue in 2020.
- The judge donated to Biden and his daughter is a left-wing activist who is using the trial to raise money for Democrats.
- The lead witness is a convicted perjurer who is selling t-shirts of Trump in jail on TikTok.

This whole thing is a joke and wouldn't be happening if President Trump wasn't leading in every swing state poll.
 
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#17,287
#17,287
jmacvols1 said:
Perspective:


Blake Masters
@bgmasters

It's hard to put into words the staggering corruption of Alvin Bragg's kangaroo court in New York City:

- The District Attorney lowers half of all felonies to misdemeanors yet raised a misdemeanor to a felony in order to indict Trump.
- The lead prosecutor was a DNC consultant and number 3 at Biden’s DOJ before being hired by Bragg to go after Trump.
- The other lead prosecutor donated over $1,000 to Joe Biden and ActBlue in 2020.
- The judge donated to Biden and his daughter is a left-wing activist who is using the trial to raise money for Democrats.
- The lead witness is a convicted perjurer who is selling t-shirts of Trump in jail on TikTok.

This whole thing is a joke and wouldn't be happening if President Trump wasn't leading in every swing state poll.
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Yet all the Biden nut huggers in here think it's the best thing in the world for them to be out there saving their lunatic marxist ways for democracy. 😂 😂
 
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#17,288
#17,288
whodeycin85 said:
Got a link to these fake invoices??? I haven't seen that yet..where is specifically say retainer..
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Trump has no retainer with Cohen for 2017. Anything paid pursuant to a retainer that did not exist is fake.

Again, I don't see the secondary FEC or tax violation so this case should not be in court here. I know Bragg tried to find tax experts to come up with a tax angle but he couldnt find one to give him what he needed. But let's not pretend T.O. did everything on the up and up here either...
 
#17,289
#17,289
lawgator1 said:
It is a crime in New York to cook the books to hide it.

If you believe that Trump worked with Cohen to pay her off, using the National Enquirer catch and kill mechanism they had so often before and that the purposes was to hide the payment so as to shield him politically, then it is reasonable to infer that when it came time to document the payment, i.e. to reimburse Cohen, then it was done in such a manner and with Trump's knowledge that it was being called a "legal expense," so as to prevent anyone who might see it from knowing it was a payoff to her to keep her trap shut as Trump ran for office.

Its not even the slightest bit hard to believe. In fact, it seems obvious.

Now, you want to argue that the witnesses have credibility problems and so you cannot know it beyond a reasonable doubt? Ok, argue that. Maybe you will be right and they will acquit. But just because OJ wasn't convicted doesn't mean he did not in fact murder Simpson and the boyfriend.

From a political standpoint, there are obviously millions of Trump supporters willing to overlook the entirety of it -- cheating on his wife with a porn star, buying her story, hiding the payments -- so that they can instead focus on their resentments about the changing demographics around them, or the price of milk or gas, or whatever daily grievance Trump can tap into.

Just don't come crying to me if he gets elected and throws the country into one constitutional crisis after another because he mad.
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All a misdemeanor in NY where the SoLs had expired.
 
#17,290
#17,290
RockyTop85 said:
This is almost entirely untrue because it is too generalized. It may be true in some places, but not all.

The “law of attorney client privilege” isn’t actually the same across every state. Each state has its own code of professional conduct. Those rules contain many of the same features, but are interpreted to create bright line rules, so small differences in language can create different outcomes.

Tennessee, for example, prohibits disclosure of confidential information except with consent, when necessary to carry out the representation, or when subject to one of two categories of exceptions: the first being situations where the lawyer may breach confidences (basically boils down to preventing a crime/fraud, rectifying or preventing financial injury as a result of crime/fraud that was committed using the lawyer, defending the lawyer against the client, securing advice from another attorney, and uncovering conflicts of interest); then there are situations where a lawyer shall/must disclose confidential information (preventing bodily injury, complying with court orders, and complying with other laws or rules).

(Rule 1.6 - CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION, Tenn. R. Sup. Ct. 1.6 | Casetext Search + Citator)

So Tennessee would be an exception to the claim that you must withdraw and report a client’s plan to “commit a crime in the present or future,” although it may very well be true in some places, perhaps even a majority. Some places may not allow lawyers to withdraw and report, but I doubt many, if any, of those exist.

Similarly, it is not impossible that another state like Florida or New York has a rule against creating audio or video recordings of the client that is intended for the lawyer’s own use, but it’s not some universal truism of ACP law. As far as I’m aware, Tennessee rules of professional conduct do not cover this. I’d be more inclined to believe it is universally wrong. In some states, like Florida, it could violate the two party consent law, but I assume this is easily remedied in the retainer contract by including a clause that consents to recording of conversations at the lawyer’s discretion.

Also, I’m not sure what

means. I think there are some typos in there. But the claim that an attorney would be disbarred for revealing confidential information not subject to an exception is also generally incorrect. Violating ACP is likely to result in discipline and disbarment could occur under certain egregious circumstances.

The idea that creating a record of a client interaction is not allowed because it is an act of negligence is the only one that isn’t remotely true. I create memos to the file of every client documenting every conversation. Failing to take reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of those records would be negligent, but the act of creating the memos or recordings is not negligence. (See part D of the Tennessee rule saying, in effect, that you have to make reasonable efforts to safeguard confidential information but says nothing about not creating records.) Honestly, not creating records and documenting everything is more negligent than doing so.

Re: mistrial and ineffective assistance of counsel: The other side turning up with lost memos or recordings in trial would be damaging to the attorney’s reputation and could possibly result in discipline depending on the circumstances, but knowingly using inadvertently disclosed confidential material is usually not permitted for the recipient. In that situation, a judge is going to weigh the circumstances and use the same toolbox of remedies, like jury instructions and suppression of tainted evidence that they use in other situations to avoid a mistrial (mistrials are disfavored.) Those remedies would almost certainly thwart an ineffective assistance claim, which is approaching the realm of legal fiction under modern jurisprudence.

Cohen, was disbarred for felony convictions. A good way to get your license revoked in many states. Mishandling client funds or property is probably the infraction that is most likely to get a lawyer disbarred.
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You are right about the report but wrong about the need to withdraw. In all cases in all states, you would need to withdraw if your client incites their plan to commit a felony. There is no exception. You are then an accomplice if he carries through with the act.

You typically are not required to (and sometimes cannot) report unless their is serious bodily injury or certain felonies. I should have been more specific there.

Recording your client is a big "no" for many reasons. It opens the door for leaks (professionalism towards the case comes in question) and it could violate privacy laws if client is unaware. Granted there could be a strategic reason both parties may record a session but generally it isn't something you do.

Regarding different districts, you are over generalizing. Most states based their laws off uniform rules of professional conduct so the variances are not that great.

I generally agree with a lot of your posts but I think you are a little off here. Professional Rules are pretty clear and you don't step on them. Penalty might be the difference.
 
#17,293
#17,293
lawgator1 said:
Not my judgment to make. I can just say with every confidence that Cohen should never be an attorney again, and Trump should never hold office again.
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I can agree to the comment about Cohen. In spirit, I agree in Trump but frankly all the other Presidential Candidates have done similar or worse lately.
 
#17,294
#17,294
On May 9, 2024, the Washington Post reported that former President Donald Trump held a 20-person “Energy Round Table” with top oil and gas executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club on April 11, 2024. According to the reporting, the former President sought $1 billion in campaign contributions from the industry executives in exchange for an explicit promise that, if elected, his Administration would roll-back environmental regulations. Former President Trump reportedly pledged to take specific official actions to end the freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas exports, start auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and rescind rules that reduce emissions from cars.

According to the Washington Post, former President Trump told industry executives, “You all are wealthy enough” and that “you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House.” He also claimed that “[g]iving $1 billion would be a ‘deal’” because of the taxation and regulation he would help them avoid.
 
#17,295
#17,295
whodeycin85 said:
How did he cook the books? Is it illegal to pay a lawyer, legals fees?? NDAs, and buying stories are not illegal...there is a reason the crime to elevate to a felony hasn't been charged or disclosed..there is also a the same reason the FEC and DOJ didn't prosecute..
What should fees paid to a lawyer be called on a balance sheet?
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You just don't want to admit that the payment wasn't for legal services, but was reimbursement to Cohen for making the payment.
 
#17,296
#17,296
VolTull said:
On May 9, 2024, the Washington Post reported that former President Donald Trump held a 20-person “Energy Round Table” with top oil and gas executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club on April 11, 2024. According to the reporting, the former President sought $1 billion in campaign contributions from the industry executives in exchange for an explicit promise that, if elected, his Administration would roll-back environmental regulations. Former President Trump reportedly pledged to take specific official actions to end the freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas exports, start auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and rescind rules that reduce emissions from cars.

According to the Washington Post, former President Trump told industry executives, “You all are wealthy enough” and that “you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House.” He also claimed that “[g]iving $1 billion would be a ‘deal’” because of the taxation and regulation he would help them avoid.
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The Trump people don't care that he's selling influence.
 
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