On CNN Wednesday night, Schwartz argued Trump was never aware of the NDA contract with Stormy Daniels, so it will be hard to argue it should be enforced. This is the exact same argument Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, is making, so it’s probably a bad one for Cohen’s lawyer to make.
But it turns out he was only just getting started. On Megyn Kelly’s NBC show Thursday morning, Schwartz did such bad lawyering that the studio audience started laughing in his face on national television.
David Schwarts: Michael Cohen was the Fixer
“Look, Michael was the fixer…there were a ton of matters that took place that Michael fixed…Donald Trump wasn’t involved in every single matter” – David Schwartz, Michael Cohen’s attorney and spokesman
Michael Cohen’s Attorney May Be an Even Worse Lawyer Than He Is
From his assertion that marital rape is legal to his insistence that a $130,000 preelection payment to Stormy Daniels doesn’t violate campaign finance laws because he paid it himself (which might actually be a bigger campaign finance violation), President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen has offered up ample evidence that he’s not the sharpest legal mind. That makes sense, as Cohen was hired years ago to be Trump’s ultraloyal “fixer,” not an expert in litigation involving the president.
However, that doesn’t explain why Cohen’s attorney and spokesperson, David Schwartz, is doing such a poor job defending his client in the media — unless he was hired to be Trump’s fixer’s fixer, not someone with a good grasp on the law.
.. Cohen has been vague about Trump’s knowledge of the negotiations, which took place in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. But Schwartz stated very clearly Cohen drew up the agreement without informing Trump, and that’s why his signature isn’t on the document.
“The president was not aware of the agreement. At least, Michael Cohen never told him about the agreement,” Schwartz said. “Michael Cohen left the option open. That’s why he left that signature line, the option open to go to him. He chose not to. He chose to bind the LLC, EC LLC and Stormy Daniels into the contract.”Michael Cohen’s attorney just claimed on @OutFrontCNN that Trump was not aware of the Stormy Daniels agreement or the payment, which means that there was no contract between Trump and Daniels, and Daniels can release the materials. Why would he admit this on national television?
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 28, 2018
The contract only lists remedies available to DD (Trump), not to the LLC. https://t.co/ERspigoVcn
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 29, 2018
Under the terms of the agreement itself, only “DD” can enforce it. If Cohen’s position is that Trump is not DD, then unless someone else comes forward as “DD,” it is unenforceable and Stormy Daniels can release the materials. https://t.co/pIquaTzwX1
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 29, 2018
“Each Party acknowledges that [Stormy] is executing this Agreement in reliance” on *Trump* releasing certain claims he has against Stormy.
Michael Cohen can’t offer that. EC LLC can’t offer that either. Only Trump can.
So if Trump ain’t in the agreement, THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Incidentally, there is no proof for this beyond the fact it’s completely fucking obvious from the contract, but the major promise being offered in the contract here is that Trump was to agree not to initiate a criminal prosecution against Stormy under revenge porn laws.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
“Each Party acknowledges that [Stormy] is executing this Agreement in reliance” on *Trump* releasing certain claims he has against Stormy.
Michael Cohen can’t offer that. EC LLC can’t offer that either. Only Trump can.
So if Trump ain’t in the agreement, THERE IS NO AGREEMENT.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Why might that have been the case? If anyone’s taking bets on this, put mine down on the source of Stormy’s fear being her attorney, Keith Davidson.
Nothing we’ve seen about him so far inspires confidence that it was his clients’ interests that Davidson was advancing.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Davidson represented Karen McDougal too, who Trump also had an affair with. And as alleged in McDougal’s complaint, Davidson was colluding Cohen – across multiple cases – to pressure McDougal and other women into signing agreements by misrepresenting to them the material terms. pic.twitter.com/zTRGsJ82uf
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
And if there was any room for doubt about what’s really going on here, just look at what Cohen has to say about Davidson.
Cohen, who threatens violence against reporters who merely call up with questions, speaks GLOWINGLY about an attorney who repeatedly threatened to sue Trump. pic.twitter.com/gqsutByQvp
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
For all of Cohen’s truly idiotic legal claims, repeated ethical breaches, & wannabe mobster ways, his sins here are the lesser ones. No one can say he wasn’t zealously advocating for his client. But if Davidson did what the women allege he did, he can’t be disbarred fast enough.
— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) March 29, 2018
Another potential laws she could have violated, which Trump agreed not to initiate a criminal prosecution, is secretly recording video or audio as California is a two-consent state.
— Michael Abromowitz (@FootballExpert) March 29, 2018