The watchdog group Common Cause on filed a complaint on Monday with the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department alleging that Donald Trump violated federal law with his secret payment of $130,000 to a porn star known as Stormy Daniels. Daniels gave a long interview to In Touch magazine detailing a yearlong affair with Trump but later accepted the money and signed a statement denying such a sexual relationship. Common Cause argues that the payment was “an unreported in-kind contribution to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., and an unreported expenditure by the committee — because the funds were paid for the purpose of influencing the 2016 president general election — in violation of the campaign finance reporting requirements.”
There was an interesting article in the ABA Journal this week discussing how U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford has responded to a New York State Bar Association report on women participating in court arguments at a lower rate than men. Wolford went public with how she has made it clear that, in a case where female associates were present, the court wanted to hear the argument from those attorneys as opposed to their male counterparts. The “suggestion” raises some obvious concerns over the use of gender or age in such decisions as well as the impact on a client’s choice of counsel.
The effort of Wolford to encourage the participation of female lawyers is commendable and the New York report identifies an area of obvious concern for the bar. However, the question is the role of the court in pushing for arguments from lawyers based on gender or age. How can a judge ideally pursue this well-meaning purpose and should there be limits?
Continue reading “Should Judges Push For Arguments By Female Lawyers?”
Continue reading “Second Eagles Fan Arrested For Slugging Police Horse”
The personal lawyer of President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, reportedly threatened to sue a tabloid magazine if it published an interview with the former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2011. Daniels told In Touch that she had an affair with Trump that started shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to her son Barron. The threat appeared to work and the story never ran. During the presidential campaign, Cohen used a fake name and shell company to give $130,000 to the porn star to deny any sexual relationship. The publication sets up an interesting legal question of whether Trump will sue as threatened and how this might play out under the standard set out in New York Times v. Sullivan. You have a porn star who does have two clearly opposing statements on the affairs as the main source for the article. However, a lawsuit would present risks that few lawyers would consider worth taking in a legal action.
There remains an intense debate over the legal and ethical implications of former FBI Director James Comey removing FBI memos and leaking the information to the press. Despite serious allegations of unethical conduct, Comey has been chosen to teach a course on “ethical leadership” at William and Mary in the Fall.
Continue reading “Comey To Teach Course On “Ethical Leadership””
One of the elements to the recent tax bill that drew considerable opposition was the move to a neutral tax system that no longer allowed for the writing off of state taxes. However, there is a valid argument for such an approach since many citizens in low tax states do not benefit to the same degree. Indeed, those taxpayers have complained that they are effectively subsidizing taxpayers in states like New York and California even though they often make considerably less. I have come to support the approach for a different reason. It forces local politicians to bear the true costs of tax hikes since they can no longer dismiss objections by saying that their increases will simply be recovered as a deduction on federal taxes. Now, however, California legislators have pushed legislation to force businesses to give back half of their federal tax savings.
Continue reading “California Moves To Force Businesses To Give Half Of Tax Cut To The State”
As the proud owner of a goldendoodle (Luna), I could not resist posting this story about two hero labradoodles named Adam and Eva. While St. Bernards get all of the rescue press, these two canine superheroes just saved an elderly woman from freezing to death in Michigan.
Continue reading “Meet Adam and Eva: America’s New Canine Heroes”
Below is an expanded version of my column that ran in USA Today on the approaching expiration of the statute of limitations for prosecuting former National Intelligence Director James Clapper for perjury. This is a city that protects its own and Clapper is the Beltway equivalent of a made man. People like Clapper do not get prosecuted. We do not call them criminal; just complicated.
Here is the column:
Judge Jack Robison appears to be channeling a higher authority recently in Comal County, Texas. Robison interrupted jurors during deliberations to inform the panel that God told him to acquit Gloria Romero-Perez of trafficking a teenage girl for sex. It appears that divine judgment did not track well with the jury, which proceeded to find Perez guilty as charged.
There is nothing so frustrating as pulling up to a Taco Bell only to have the drive thru person repeatedly refuse to take your order . . . unless of course it is a bank. That was the dilemma of Douglas Francisco, 28, who is accused of being drunk when he pulled into the Bank of America in Tampa and demanded a burrito. If Francisco wants to fulfill the chain’s slogan of “Live Mas,” he might want to drive less.
Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School, offered hope recently for those still in denial over the 2017 presidential election. Lessig, seriously, argued in Newsweek that it is not too late. Hillary Clinton could still be president if things break in the right way. It would only require the removal of both Trump and Pence as well as a cooperation and resignation of a President Speaker Paul Ryan. That is all it would take to make for those who believe that there is no price too great to get the Clintons back into power. Even Lessig’s Rube Goldberg machine of presidential succession.
Continue reading “Harvard Professor: Hillary Clinton Could Still Be President”
President Trump‘s personal lawyer Michael Cohen is under fire this week after The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen used what appear to be shell companies and fake names to pay a porn star called Stormy Daniels $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement. Daniels states in a prior but unpublished interview that she had an affair with Trump that began shortly after Trump married Melania Trump and had their son Baron. She said that the affair lasted roughly a year and the money was paid during the campaign around the time of the release of the disturbing Access Hollywood tape. Cohen has previously denied any affair and insisted that both Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford) and Trump deny any sexual relationship. The new information has led some to question Cohen’s veracity and the role of an attorney in maintaining such a denial if the representation is untrue. I am less confident that a clear ethical line was crossed by Cohen simply because he used such companies or has maintained the denial of any relationship.
I have previously written about the endless calls for impeachment from Democratic members for everything from Trump criticizing NFL players to comments made about protesters. The Framers saw the great abuses caused not only by tyranny of nobility, but tyranny of the majority. They sought to insulate our government from the transient impulses of politics. The danger has been repeatedly shown by members who see virtually any act or comment by Donald Trump as a case for impeachment. The latest such example comes from Texas Representative Al Green, who declared that Trump’s alleged reference to “shithole countries” is sufficient grounds for impeachment. The last time I checked, pottymouth was not included in Article II with “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
There are various techniques to evading sobriety tests from burping to vomiting to claiming medications. Brian Fogg however had a more hands on approach. According to police in Belfast, Maine, Fogg repeatedly punched himself in the face to force the officers to attend to his injuries rather than administer the breathalyzer. It did not work.
The famous proverb stated that “the wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” That appears born out in a recent athlete competition in Siberia. Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) showed up unannounced at the regional competition in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and dozens of athletes immediately withdrew to avoid testing.