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Trump Org Lawyer Tied To Effort To Gag Stormy Daniels In Arbitration Proceedings

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The_Trump_Organization_LogoI have previously written how Trump personal counsel Michael Cohen has left himself utterly exposed ethically in his effort to protect the President from the brewing scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.  Cohen has struggled to deny any connection of the payoff to Daniels to the President or Trump organization.  It is for that reason that a new document released by Daniels’ counsel (and my former research assistant) Michael Avenatti is so curious.  The arbitration documents include the listing of Trump Organization Vice President and lawyer Jill A. Martin.  Martin is listed as counsel for Essential Consultants LLC, a shell Delaware company formed by Cohen to help disguise the payment of the $130,000 to Daniels (whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford).  The arbitration documents in Orange County, California were signed on February 22 — less than a month ago. It is bizarre that, given the huge effort to insulate Trump and his organization from this payment, Martin would effectively intervene in this way.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the documents marked “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING” tie President Donald Trump’s flagship holding company to controversy.

In signing, she broke down the carefully constructed political and legal wall between Daniels and the company.  Martin reportedly send an email insisting that she facilitated the filing “in her individual capacity” to bridge the gap for a New York lawyer to be approved for practice in California.

It appears to be a reference to a pro hac vice motion for permission to practice as an attorney from outside of the bar.  It is a simple filing that I have used many times and something that can be handled by any attorney of good standing.  I cannot imagine why Cohen and Martin would destroy their carefully separated structure for such a minor role. They could have easily hired a California attorney for little cost in fulfilling this role.

Martin is one of the last people who should have contemplated involvement in any capacity in these proceedings.  Martin, 38,  is a vice president and assistant general counsel at the Trump Organization based in Los Angeles.  She used the address of the Trump Organization’s Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.  She signed the filing on behalf of “EC, LLC,” an acronym for Essential Consultants.

In his prior statement, Cohen went to great lengths to maintain this separation:

“In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford. Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”
Much of Cohen’s actions have been baffling, but the use of Martin after such a statement is particularly hard to understand.  While Cohen can maintain that he was referring to payments not involvement, his past moves have struggled to insulate Trump and his company.  That position was undermined in news reports.  Cohen reportedly complained that the delay in paying off Daniels was due to the fact that he could not reach Trump and later complained that Trump never reimbursed him.
Now he used the Trump company vice president to sign filings in an effort to gag Daniels.  In other words, none of this makes sense.  What is lacking is any evidence of an intelligent design behind this litigation.
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