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Stormy Daniels scandal thread (1 Viewer)

Does this action in any jeopardize her legal standing re: claims that the contract is invalid, since she'd be "validating it" with an offer of retraction?
I don't think so. 

First, Stormy's offer was probably communicated to Cohen/Trump in a letter from Stormy's attorney, which would include language saying that the offer does not waive any of Stormy's rights or constitute an admission of any fact.  Also, the offer is likely part of settlement negotiations, and settlement negotiations are not admissible evidence.  

Second, her argument is that the agreement is not binding because Trump never signed it, not because she never got paid.  You can have a contract by performance, which means that even if the parties didn't sign the paperwork, if they nevertheless behaved as if there were a contract and carried out their obligations, a court will find that there is an enforceable contract.  One exception to this is if the contract explicitly says that is is valid only when signed by all the parties.  This is usually more of a theoretical defense than anything else because courts generally do whatever they can to find that the parties entered into a valid contract.  But here, Stormy's attorneys are arguing that the language of the NDA does require everybody's signature, including Trump's.  In this respect, Stormy's offer is more posturing than anything in my mind.  There is no way that Trump/Cohen care about getting the 130K back - they just want Stormy to stay quiet.  Her attorney is foregrounding the catch-22 for Trump/Cohen: either the NDA is invalid because Trump was a party and didn't sign it, or the NDA is somehow valid and Trump is therefore party to an NDA with a porn star involving a payment that may have violated election laws.    

 
I find it amazing that you men care so much...Most men try to stay out of another mans personal life...I expect the women to gossip and get bent out of shape...Not the men..
I care as much about this as I did Clintons transgressions - it’s unseemly for the leader of the US to be involved in scandals like this.  We should aim for better.  I don’t think either should be a dealbreaker in and of itself.  Your comment about this being gossip is just nonsense.  He’s the ####### POTUS - basically his whole life is fair game for conversation and condemnation no matter his party affiliation.

 
His lawyer did not serve him well here.

His lusts did not serve him well here.

His lack of character did not serve him well here. 

I suppose I am mildly curious if he paid for it up front in a quid pro quo transaction of prostitution as well as paying for it after the fact to negotiate her silence.  I am also mildly interested in whether campaign funds purchased silence.  If so I am curious whether Trump had direct knowledge of that fact or whether the law impugns that knowledge to him.  I am interested in whether he should have been aware if he was not.

I do wonder how much of Trump's day is consumed addressing this bimbo eruption.    Any amount of time is more than I would want a President spending, what with him  being the Chief Executive Officer of this country and the Commander in Chief.  Back in the day they use to talk about Clinton's ability to compartmentalize. Given Trump's demonstrated emotional control, or lack thereof, I doubt he has the same ability.

 
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God's forgive his past transgressions and he is no longer the sinner he was.  Plus these women are all harlots and bimbos.
If God could forgive Trump why not also forgive the Trollops?  Seems inconsistent of god, but its ways may be beyond my keen.

Me, I guess I'm a bit more grudgeful than God.  My forgiveness, if it comes at all, comes after a probationary period demonstrating a true change of heart.  I hate to quote Reagan as that comes with all sorts of presumptions and baggage, but I'm more of a trust but verify guy than an I'll take your word for it sort of fellow.

 
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Trump Org tied to Stormy deal.

>>Documents marked “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING” for the first time tie President Donald Trump’s flagship holding company to the continuing effort to silence a former adult-film actress who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

A Trump Organization lawyer, Jill A. Martin, is listed as counsel in an arbitration demand for Essential Consultants LLC, a Delaware company formed by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and used to pay $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford in exchange for her silence, according to Feb. 22 arbitration documents filed in Orange County, Calif.<<

>>Ms. Martin, 38 years old, is a vice president and assistant general counsel at the Trump Organization based in Los Angeles, according to her LinkedIn page.

In the arbitration proceedings, Ms. Martin signed a declaration listing her office address as One Trump National Drive, which is at the Trump Organization’s Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Ms. Martin, a lawyer for the Trump Organization since 2010, has defended Mr. Trump both in court and in the media. She was a lead attorney for the Trump Organization in lawsuits alleging Mr. Trump’s real-estate seminars, Trump University, had defrauded customers.

The company settled the lawsuits in November 2016, after Mr. Trump’s victory in the presidential election, without admitting wrongdoing.

While she had no formal role in Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, Ms. Martin vouched for his character in media interviews during the 2016 campaign, after several women accused him of sexual harassment and assault, which he denied.<<

>>The arbitration filing signed by Ms. Martin was made on behalf of “EC, LLC,” an acronym for Essential Consultants used in the nondisclosure agreement, and against “Peggy Peterson,” a pseudonym for Ms. Clifford used in the agreement in an effort to conceal her true identity.<<

- I'm guessing this emerged because Cohen was not licensed to practice law in CA.

 
I think proving it out and dragging Trump into court is the fun part.
The man has absolutely zero chance of avoiding perjury. He simply doesn't have the ability to tell the truth. It's funny that this guy is the most treasonous President in the history of our country and banging a porn star is going to be the thing that takes him down. 

 
I reviewed an NDA today.  I typically review about 1 a week in the ordinary course, so I'm familiar with the standard issues that crop up.  But after the the whole Trump/Cohen/Stormy NDA thing, I find myself rationalizing in my mind what would otherwise be unreasonable or odd edits, like language expressly prohibiting ex parte arbitration injunctions or language that permits my client to get and keep a copy of the fully-executed NDA.  At this point, I am really tempted to slide something into an NDA and see what push back I get: "Sorry, that isn't reasonable, Indestructible."  "Yeah, well, Trump's attorney actually did that, so I want that language just in case you try to go all Michael Cohen on my client."

 
BuzzFeed maneuver could free Stormy Daniels to speak on Trump

BuzzFeed may have found a legal opening to allow the porn actress Stormy Daniels to discuss her alleged relationship with President Donald Trump and a $130,000 payment she received just before the 2016 election as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is now trying to void.

The same Trump attorney who brokered the deal with Daniels, Michael Cohen, filed a libel suit in January against BuzzFeed and four of its staffers over publication of the so-called dossier compiling accurate, inaccurate and unproven allegations about Trump’s relationship with Russia.

Now, BuzzFeed is using Cohen’s libel suit as a vehicle to demand that Daniels preserve all records relating to her relationship with Trump, as well as her dealings with Cohen and the payment he has acknowledged arranging in 2016.

On Tuesday, BuzzFeed’s lawyer wrote to Daniels’ attorney asking that the adult film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, preserve various categories of documents. Such preservation letters are often a prelude to a subpoena. If Daniels’ testimony is formally demanded in a deposition, the nondisclosure agreement would likely be no obstacle, legal experts said.

The letter from BuzzFeed’s attorney, obtained by POLITICO, argues that Cohen’s role in paying Daniels is similar to allegations in the dossier about Cohen. The dossier alleges that Cohen met Russian legal officials and legislators in Prague in August 2016 in a bid to “sweep … under the carpet” details of the relationship between Russia and Trump campaign officials like Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. Cohen has flatly denied the claim.

...Bolger asked Daniels to preserve all records of negotiations, agreements and payments involving Cohen, but also for more direct proof of Daniels’ alleged connection with Trump, including “any and all documents or communications about any relationship and/or sexual encounter(s) Ms. Clifford had and/or was alleged to have had, with President Trump.” ...

 
I reviewed an NDA today.  I typically review about 1 a week in the ordinary course, so I'm familiar with the standard issues that crop up.  But after the the whole Trump/Cohen/Stormy NDA thing, I find myself rationalizing in my mind what would otherwise be unreasonable or odd edits, like language expressly prohibiting ex parte arbitration injunctions or language that permits my client to get and keep a copy of the fully-executed NDA.  At this point, I am really tempted to slide something into an NDA and see what push back I get: "Sorry, that isn't reasonable, Indestructible."  "Yeah, well, Trump's attorney actually did that, so I want that language just in case you try to go all Michael Cohen on my client."
I thought this was a pretty good article on flaws in the NDA.

 
Trump Org tied to Stormy deal.

>>Documents marked “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING” for the first time tie President Donald Trump’s flagship holding company to the continuing effort to silence a former adult-film actress who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

A Trump Organization lawyer, Jill A. Martin, is listed as counsel in an arbitration demand for Essential Consultants LLC, a Delaware company formed by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and used to pay $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford in exchange for her silence, according to Feb. 22 arbitration documents filed in Orange County, Calif.<<

>>Ms. Martin, 38 years old, is a vice president and assistant general counsel at the Trump Organization based in Los Angeles, according to her LinkedIn page.

In the arbitration proceedings, Ms. Martin signed a declaration listing her office address as One Trump National Drive, which is at the Trump Organization’s Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Ms. Martin, a lawyer for the Trump Organization since 2010, has defended Mr. Trump both in court and in the media. She was a lead attorney for the Trump Organization in lawsuits alleging Mr. Trump’s real-estate seminars, Trump University, had defrauded customers.

The company settled the lawsuits in November 2016, after Mr. Trump’s victory in the presidential election, without admitting wrongdoing.

While she had no formal role in Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, Ms. Martin vouched for his character in media interviews during the 2016 campaign, after several women accused him of sexual harassment and assault, which he denied.<<

>>The arbitration filing signed by Ms. Martin was made on behalf of “EC, LLC,” an acronym for Essential Consultants used in the nondisclosure agreement, and against “Peggy Peterson,” a pseudonym for Ms. Clifford used in the agreement in an effort to conceal her true identity.<<

- I'm guessing this emerged because Cohen was not licensed to practice law in CA.
Top-notch legal team here, folks. The best people... or something.

 
Wouldn't it be hilarious if Cohen knew this was going to happen, and he did it all on purpose because Trump screwed him out of the $130K.
The idea that a man would take out money on a home equity loan, pay interest on it, and risk disbarment, to silence the claims of a billionaire's affair when that woman is lying about it, never crossed my mind, but yeah if he did that it would make a lot of sense to sort of passively aggressively follow orders on it until it went off a cliff.

 
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SaintsInDome2006 said:
I really like Ken Adams.  He is an authority on legal drafting and I frequently refer to his books.    

With that having been said, I wasn't a big fan of his analysis of the NDA.  I am sure he doesn't intend his post to come across this way, but I think it has the danger of elevating form over substance for non-lawyer readers.  The Stormy NDA is a dumpster fire not because of things like this

14.  Tabulated enumerated clause 3.1(c) somehow acquired a solitary second-level tabulated enumerated clause, clause (1), but it’s not introduced as a tabulated enumerated clause should be. I assume it should have been given the enumeration (d).
but rather because there are really significant substantive legal issues that affect its enforceability (e.g., who are the parties?  how can you get injunctive relief when you have a liquidated damages provision? etc.)  Including things about tabulation in a list side-by-side with potentially dispositive legal infirmities in the NDA makes them all seem equivalent and undercuts just how problematic this NDA is from a purely legal perspective.  To be fair, he acknowledges this: "Otherwise, my only concern was the quality of the drafting, and what I saw established that the drafter was semiliterate, transcendently careless, and not a transactional person."  Still, I think his post has the danger of suggesting that Cohen was just sloppy, when really the NDA is a lot more nefarious.  

 
I really like Ken Adams.  He is an authority on legal drafting and I frequently refer to his books.    

With that having been said, I wasn't a big fan of his analysis of the NDA.  I am sure he doesn't intend his post to come across this way, but I think it has the danger of elevating form over substance for non-lawyer readers.  The Stormy NDA is a dumpster fire not because of things like this

but rather because there are really significant substantive legal issues that affect its enforceability (e.g., who are the parties?  how can you get injunctive relief when you have a liquidated damages provision? etc.)  Including things about tabulation in a list side-by-side with potentially dispositive legal infirmities in the NDA makes them all seem equivalent and undercuts just how problematic this NDA is from a purely legal perspective.  To be fair, he acknowledges this: "Otherwise, my only concern was the quality of the drafting, and what I saw established that the drafter was semiliterate, transcendently careless, and not a transactional person."  Still, I think his post has the danger of suggesting that Cohen was just sloppy, when really the NDA is a lot more nefarious.  
My read was that this dumpster fire of an NDA is a #### show of epic proportions on ALL levels.  While the substance matters, the sheer idiocy and amateurishness (and that's kinda insulting amateurs) of the doc just demonstrates a lack of competence that may have historical implications.

 
14.  Tabulated enumerated clause 3.1(c) somehow acquired a solitary second-level tabulated enumerated clause, clause (1), but it’s not introduced as a tabulated enumerated clause should be. I assume it should have been given the enumeration (d).
I just think minutiae is telling. And objective readers, say judges, can make judgements on the overall quality of a document before they even get into it. If the form is frustrating, the reader is frustrated.

On this particular point - and I know I'm speculating - it tells me: Davidson or Cohen (who is claimed to have drafted this btw?) seems to have squeezed it in himself. Sucking at formatting that's how it happened. And in doing so there could also be substantive consequences - he seems to have limited 3.1c1 to 3.1c only and not everything else. Stormy's lawyer can argue she was only obligated to turn over correspondence relating to what is indicated in 3.1c, and not all correspondence.

 
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I just think minutiae is telling. And objective readers, say judges, can make judgements on the overall quality of a document before they even get into it. If the form is frustrating, the reader is frustrated.

On this particular point - and I know I'm speculating - it tells me: Davidson or Cohen (who is claimed to have drafted this btw?) seems to have squeezed it in himself. Sucking at formatting that's how it happened. And in doing so there could also be substantive consequences - he seems to have limited 3.1c1 to 3.1c only and not everything else. Stormy's lawyer can argue she was only obligated to turn over correspondence relating to what is indicated in 3.1c, and not all correspondence.
The minutiae is at least consistent with the parties involved.  Still, a court would enforce a contract that suffers from many of the errors he mentioned.  The "and/or" usage is the best example where the sloppiness reflects something with actual consequences as you mention.  A lot of lawyers (myself included :bag: ) use it because it is easy ("well, I don't know which one to use now, so I'll just assume somebody will pick the right one later if anything comes up").  99% of the time nothing ever comes up, so it doesn't matter.  But there are a few cases where it does make a difference, and this may be one of them.  Here, the "and/or" in the introductory paragraph has the following implications: 

- Stormy entered into the NDA with EC LLC;

- Stormy entered into the NDA with Trump; or

- Stormy entered into the NDA with EC and Trump.

There is a bunch of stuff throughout the contract that supports one or more of these possibilities.  But even in the introductory paragraph, there is problematic language elsewhere.  The phrase "by and between" suggests only 2 parties are involved (as opposed to "by and among," which suggests more than 2 parties).  That is such a fundamental legal issue - who are the parties to the contract - that it overshadows the minutiae.  You could revise the NDA and adopt almost all of Adams' suggestions and a court is still going to look at the NDA and say "wtf is going on here?  are there 2 parties to the contract or 3?"  That ambiguity was likely by design so that Cohen could have Trump get the benefits of Stormy's confidentiality but at the same time pretend that Trump never signed an NDA with a porn star.  That is what I mean when I say the dumpster-firey aspects of this contract are nefarious, as opposed to some of the stuff that Adams mentions, which is sloppiness (and not uncommon for a lot of lawyers).  

Your point does bring up another legal concept, which is that ambiguity in a contract is construed against the drafter.  So, if a court is looking at a provision and trying to determine if it means A or B, they'll pick the interpretation that is less favorable to the drafter.  The assumption is that the drafter was best positioned to write the contract to mean what it was supposed to mean.  So, Cohen is not going to be able to say "what I really meant here was..."  That could be implicated in the example you cite as well.

 
This is the real way Trump gets hurt.

Rip apart his obvious and egregious personal flaws and faults.  Real and actual paper trails and willing witnesses.  Expose just how exposed Trump is as a joke of a human being.

Not with some whack job Russian collaboration/spy/traitor/plant conspiracy.   :bye:

 
This is the real way Trump gets hurt.

Rip apart his obvious and egregious personal flaws and faults.  Real and actual paper trails and willing witnesses.  Expose just how exposed Trump is as a joke of a human being.

Not with some whack job Russian collaboration/spy/traitor/plant conspiracy.   :bye:
Look dude, we're not disagreeing with the personal flaws and faults, but those were completely obvious during the 2016 election, and he still ended up POTUS.   The Russian collaboration/spy/traitor/manchurian candidate stuff is almost a Hail Mary by the opposition b/c we think it might be the only thing that brings this POS down.  We fully know we haven't seen any proof of collaboration.  There might not be any, despite the obvious overwhelming circumstantial evidence.   Trump's avoidance of emails might serve him well here, as his underlings might be left to take the fall.  We do hope, at the very least, that the Mueller investigation will produce charges against someone close enough to Trump (i.e. Kushner) that increased pressure is brought to bear on Trump, and he responds in his trademark stupid and oblivious manner, and in doing so he mortally damages his presidency.  

Finally, regarding the "whack job Russian collaboration" BS you spout, realize how far the goalposts have moved in a year, and we haven't even seen the results of someone close to Trump flipping, yet.   A year ago the Trump supporters were all laughing about the supposed ties to Russia.  Fast forward to now, and they've retreated to arguing that the ties don't prove collusion.   Aren't you in the least bit curious what another year of investigation will bring?

 
On MSNBC just now, Stormy Daniels’ attorney claimed that she was physically threatened and that this will be revealed in the 60 Minutes interview. 

 
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Stormy's lawyer on Morning Joe...some good stuff...the March 25 60 Minutes interview sounds like Must See TV...  :popcorn: :popcorn:

 
On MSNBC just now, Stormy Daniels’ attorney claimed that she was physically threatened and that this will be revealed in the 60 Minutes interview. 
It was weird watching that info get dropped.  They were exiting the interview and Mika talked over the transition, “was she threatened?” “Yes” “physically threatened?” “Yes”.

Attorney also said six women have approached his office with similar stories to Daniels’s, more than one has an NDA, haven’t chosen to represent any of them yet but are vetting their stories.

 
The attorney for an adult film actress who claimed to have had an affair with President Donald Trump said Friday that his client has been threatened with physical harm and suggested that she had only signed a nondisclosure agreement related to the relationship because of threats against her.

Asked on Friday by MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski if his client, Stormy Daniels, had been on the receiving end of threats, attorney Michael Avenatti replied that she had. Asked if she had been threatened with physical harm, Avenatti said yes. He did not say when Daniels received the threats.

The attorney offered no other details about the threats against Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. He declined to say who leveled the threat against Daniels and would not say whether or not the threat had come from the president himself. Avenatti also declined to say if the threat had come from someone party to or otherwise related to the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels has filed suit to break.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/stormy-daniels-threats-467067

 
That ambiguity was likely by design so that Cohen could have Trump get the benefits of Stormy's confidentiality but at the same time pretend that Trump never signed an NDA with a porn star. 
First of all thanks for a great, well written post. I think you have fleshed it out. This is the point of the And/Or. I have a question on this - isn’t this also the real cause/consideration for the contract? A shell company that has no members except a lawyer, does nothing else in real life, has had no damages and received no benefit, and yet it seeks to enforce this contract while denying that the person who gets all the benefits had any role. Can something like this stand?

 
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