Category: Lawyering

Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Free Speech, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Torts

Liar, Liar, DOJ On Fire? Comey and McCabe Offer Sharply Conflicting Accounts
440px-Comey-FBI-PortraitAndrew_McCabe_official_photoI previously wrote that President Donald Trump has the curious skill of bringing out the worst in his critics.  In the last two weeks, two of Trump’s greatest critics have not only faced their own investigations into leaks by the Inspector General (and McCabe is now the subject of a criminal referral for prosecution), they are increasingly at odds with one another. It is clear that either Comey or McCabe is offering a false account of leaks from the Justice Department.  With McCabe now promising defamation lawsuits and the possibility of a prosecution, this could get much worse before it gets better.

 

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Bizarre, Columns, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Comey and McCabe Leap From The Moral High Ground Into The Trump Abyss

440px-Comey-FBI-PortraitAndrew_McCabe_official_photoBelow is my column in USA Today on the rapid demise of James Comey and Andrew McCabe, who have fulfilled the very stereotypes drawn by President Donald Trump.  Comey continues to spin the controversy over his book as fulfilling what he saw as a need for ethical leadership (i.e., Comey himself).  Comey acknowledged that he never asked Mueller if he should wait on the book.  Why? If you are so committed to the FBI and this investigation, why would you not ask about the possibly deleterious effects of a tell-all book (which discussed both public and nonpublic evidence).  Clearly the book was not helpful to the investigation, but that did not matter to Comey who saw the greater need as advancing himself as the personification of virtue and ethics — while cashing in on the first tell-all book from a former FBI Director.

Here is the column:

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Columns, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Comey’s Tell-All Book Tells All You Need To Know About Comey

Below is my column on the Comey book and ABC interview.  Comey continues to paint the book as a calling for him to supply an account of ethical leadership — himself — as opposed to cashing in on a tell-all book.  The book and the interview speak for themselves.

 

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Academia, Lawyering, Media

Did Stormy Daniels Just Implicate Tom Brady?

downloadOk, I admit that I am a Bears fan and this could be the only way to get Tom Brady out of the next session, but doesn’t this picture look a tad familiar?  Check out this picture: Tom Brady  Or here in his hoodie: Tom Brady. With our new young quarterback scheduled to face the Patriots this year, it is close enough for me.

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Environment, Lawyering, Media, Politics

“I Apologize To You For The Mess”: Leading Gay Rights Lawyers Burns Himself To Death In New York Park Protest

Statue_at_Metairie_CemeteryThis weekend, the New York bar lost one of its most accomplished lawyers, David Buckel, 60.  Buckel reportedly burned himself to death in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on Saturday morning. Buckel was the lead attorney in the lawsuit brought by Teena Brandon, a transgender man who was raped and slain in 1993 in Nebraska. The case inspired the 1999 movie “Boys Don’t Cry.”  He left a suicide note reading “I am David Buckel and I just killed myself by fire as a protest suicide. I apologize to you for the mess.”

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Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

After The Inspector General Report, Questions Grow Over The Lack Of A Criminal Referral For McCabe

McCabeJustice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has released his watchdog report on the conduct of former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and it is scathing.  As I discussed in an earlier column, McCabe took the unprecedented step of a top former FBI officer of asking for donations on GoFundMe and racked in more than half a million dollars.  He notably raised the money and then closed the site not long before the release of the report showing that he repeatedly made false statements to investigators as well as Comey.  It was like creating a victim fund before police concludes whether you were attacked or the attacker.  Horowitz did not convey any doubt as to McCabe being the culprit.  He and his career staff found that McCabe not only lied but did so to advance his personal — the public’s — interest. If that is the case, it only magnifies the concerns over the treatment of McCabe as opposed to the Trump officials (like Michael Flynn) who he once investigated.  The fact that he had the audacity to raise a half million dollars before the facts were made public only heightens these concerns.

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Bizarre, Lawyering

Cohen Puffs As Judge Fumes

download-1I have been a long critic of Michael Cohen, who has a reputation of a reckless and unprofessional lawyer.  Cohen could not have taken a more disastrous course for his client, Donald Trump, and he has maximized the potential costs for both himself and his client.  Now, as a judge was holding a hearing on his motion to protect his files, Cohen took upon himself to not only skip the hearing but sit outside in New York smoking a cigar. He even joked that he wanted the pictures snapped by the awaiting reporters.  The judge in the meantime was reportedly irritated by his absence at this critical hearing over his allegedly confidential files.

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Columns, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Bang, Bang, Boom: The Risks Of Firing Rod Rosenstein


Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the danger of President Donald Trump firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Reports still indicate that Trump is pushing to fire Rosenstein — a move that would seriously undermine both his political and legal position.

Here is the column:

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Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics

Prelude For Pardons Yet To Come? Trump To Pardon Scooter Libby

LEWIS LIBBY PORTRAITPresident Donald Trump has reportedly signed a full pardon for Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Given the conviction for allegations against Libby, it is hard not to draw an analogy to figures like Michael Flynn or even Michael Cohen.

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Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Mr. President, Beware Of The Wolf Trap
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Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the greatest danger for President Donald Trump in the raids on his personal attorney’s office, home, and hotel room.  Michael Cohen’s real threat may be as bait — either by design or default.  It is the perfect Wolf Pit and Trump could prove the ultimate prize if he is not restrained in his reaction to the raid.  The most significant blows for his Administration has been the result of Trump’s responses to events.  The most obvious was his disastrous decision to fire Comey in the middle of the Russian investigation.  Already, the Cohen raid has reportedly pushed Trump away from speaking with Mueller.  Cohen has already maximized the damage to himself and his client. He may now have derailed the effort of Trump’s D.C. legal team to prepare him for a sitdown with Mueller on four categories.  At the same time, Trump is reportedly back to threatening that he might fire Mueller or Rosenstein or Sessions.  Despite the overwhelming view of experts and Republican leaders that such a move would highly damaging to his Administration and could trigger impeachment proceedings, there is still a palpable fear that that Trump could take such a self-defeated course.

Here is the column:

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Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

A Plot Thickens: Berman Recused Himself From Cohen Investigation

600px-US-DeptOfJustice-Seal.svg DOJYesterday, it was disclosed that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman recused himself in the probe of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen before the raids on his home, office, and hotel. The recusal raises obvious concerns and a range of theories.  Given the overarching public interest in this investigation, Berman should disclose the general basis for the recusal.

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Academia, Bizarre, Lawyering, Politics

Report: Michael Cohen Once Threatened Harvard Students With Expulsion For Prank Involving Trump

Harvard_lampoon_tpsPresident Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, yesterday sought to elicit a modicum of sympathy for his position after a raid upon his office, home, and hotel room.  However, Cohen is not known for such empathy in his treatment of others in his controversial career. Cohen is known as a bully who threatens to ruin anyone who he deems to be a threat or impediment to Trump.  A new example of such allegations surfaced this week where a Harvard student said that Cohen threatened to have him expelled from the university over a successful prank orchestrated by the Harvard Lampoon.

 

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Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Mr. President, If “Many People Have Said You Should Fire Mueller” . . . Many People Are Wrong

440px-Director_Robert_S._Mueller-_IIIdonald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedPresident Donald Trump  renewed his public discussion over firing Robert Mueller after the search of his lawyer’s office, a move that would be the single most destructive act since  . . . well . . .  Trump fired James Comey.  It would not only not stop the investigation but it would expand calls for impeachment.  The statement clearly thrilled many of his critics who relished the idea of the largest unforced error in history since New York Giants center fielder Fred Snodgrass blew Game 8 of the 1912 World Series with the Boston Red Sox.  Of course, dropping that ball cost New York the World Series. This could cost Trump his presidency.  I have a column out this morning in the Hill on this issue.

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Columns, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Stuck In Denial? Media Struggles With The Fact That Trump Is Not A Target Of Mueller Investigation
donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_cropped440px-Director_Robert_S._Mueller-_III-1Below is my column on The Hill newspaper on the significance (and coverage) of the Washington Post story that President Donald Trump is not a target of the Mueller investigation but only a subject of the investigation. None of this means that the risks for Trump in a sit down interview do not remain high. Even as a subject, he could be accused of false statements — a concern with a President known to go “off script” in meetings.
Here is the column:

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Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

The Curious Case of The Andrew McCabe Legal Defense Fund

Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the curious timing of a legal defense fund for Andrew McCabe — started and closed before the release of a report on his conduct.  With the sentencing of the first Mueller defendant, Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan, there are obvious questions of why people like Flynn and van der Zwaan should face prison for single false statements while McCabe is accused of lying four times, including twice under oath.  Mueller’s office insisted that anyone who lies to investigators deserves to be sentenced and punished, but that standard appears to change be somewhat fluid when a former high-ranking FBI official is implicated.  Nevertheless, I can certainly understand McCabe’s interest in a legal defense fund given the ongoing IG investigation and addition of a prosecutor to the team.  However, the money was raised before donors could know the full account of the allegations against McCabe. Moreover, McCabe can use this money for any legal needs as he enters private life.

Here is the column:

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