# Trump sued by Stormy Daniels over hush payment **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 7, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163 "2018-03-07T02:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 28
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/541 "2018-04-17T17:15:29Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > My god! She was threatened by the young Willem Dafoe. This goes deeper than any of us thought! > > [https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2018/02/18/95fb30bc-7013-46d7-a5d7-162ee7fcb714/resize/620x465/0987c8fafb295b6e951331e4489fefec/willem-dafoe-undated-head-shot-465.jpg](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2018/02/18/95fb30bc-7013-46d7-a5d7-162ee7fcb714/resize/620x465/0987c8fafb295b6e951331e4489fefec/willem-dafoe-undated-head-shot-465.jpg) So you’re saying Dafoe is at stage four of an actor’s career.[ul] [li]Who’s John Clarke?[/li][li]Get me John Clarke.[/li][li]Get me _a_ John Clarke.[/li][li]Get me a _young_ John Clarke.[/li][li]Who’s John Clarke?[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/542 "2018-04-17T17:22:34Z")
Yeah, I still say it’s the Mooch. Either that or Sugar Ray’s own, [Mark McGrath](https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcoolspotters.com%2Ffiles%2Fphotos%2F39841%2Fmark-mcgrath-profile.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcoolspotters.com%2Fmusicians%2Fmark-mcgrath&docid=Pdc6Zrg1rgcQgM&tbnid=yUY3v4v1EM1kwM%3A&vet=1&w=300&h=420&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/543 "2018-04-17T17:24:29Z")
sketch artist has been at this for a long time. She’s a rape victim herself. Helped catch 750 people. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stormy-daniels-sketch-artist-holds-world-record-ids-article-1.3938910](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/stormy-daniels-sketch-artist-holds-world-record-ids-article-1.3938910) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/544 "2018-04-17T18:13:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, is Hannity’s statement that he never paid Cohen, never retained him, and wasn’t ever his client, sufficient to nullify any claim of attorney-client privilege? So, in essence, he is claiming that while he was doing exceptionally favorable stories on Cohen, he was also receiving free legal services from him without disclosing them? Sounds totally legit. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/545 "2018-04-17T19:05:30Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > So, in essence, he is claiming that while he was doing exceptionally favorable stories on Cohen, he was also receiving free legal services from him without disclosing them? > > Sounds totally legit. [Fox News certainly thinks so (big surprise).](https://twitter.com/davidfolkenflik/status/986308706831945729) > [@](#): > > FOX NEWS statement on Hannity: “While FOX News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/546 "2018-04-17T19:10:05Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [Fox News certainly thinks so (big surprise).](https://twitter.com/davidfolkenflik/status/986308706831945729) “Did you do anything wrong, Sean?” “Nope.” “Sounds good.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/547 "2018-04-17T19:54:18Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > [ul] > [li]Who’s John Clarke?[/li][li]Get me John Clarke.[/li][li]Get me _a_ John Clarke.[/li][li]Get me a _young_ John Clarke.[/li][li]Who’s John Clarke?[/li][/ul] [John Clarke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clarke_(satirist)) was a bloody genius. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/548 "2018-04-17T20:13:03Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Sketch](https://twitter.com/hunterschwarz/status/986265355310989313/photo/1?tfw_creator=hayleymiller01&tfw_site=HuffPostPol&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fentry%2Fstormy-daniels-sketch_us_5ad6055fe4b0edca2cbe2907) Could also be [a serial killer](https://twitter.com/BlackIrishI/status/986271659601494016). Naw … it’s the Mooch. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/549 "2018-04-17T20:41:45Z")
$100k reward for info on the sketch guy. That should bring out the crazies . ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/550 "2018-04-17T22:06:05Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I think Hannity might just be really embarrassed to be associated with this lawyer. He doesn’t want the public to assume that Hannity, like the lawyer’s other two public clients, are just using him to pay off mistresses. I also suspect that Hannity may have let Cohen influence Fox News’ coverage of things in exchange for the free legal advice. Perhaps that could ruin Hannity’s career. It won’t ruin Hannity’s career, but Hannity interviewed Cohen and defended him without disclosing their relationship. Put another way, Hannity received free legal advice from Cohen and delivered favorable reporting to him. TPM: [Sean Hannity Has Said A Lot About His Secret Lawyer Michael Cohen](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sean-hannity-has-said-a-lot-about-his-secret-lawyer-michael-cohen). “Michael, I’m a little concerned about my name coming up in court: can you do something about that?” “Don’t worry Sean, I’m not a real lawyer.” “That’s ok, I’m not a real journalist.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/551 "2018-04-17T23:02:41Z")
Now the right wing Facebook legions are up in arms. It turns out that Judge Kimba Wood of the Cohen case officiated at the wedding of George Soros! The Deep State strikes again! ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/552 "2018-04-18T01:03:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So, is Hannity’s statement that he never paid Cohen, never retained him, and wasn’t ever his client, sufficient to nullify any claim of attorney-client privilege? > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > No. Josh Marshall, TPM Prime: [INDENT][INDENT][INDENT] All this said, Hannity says that he “assumed these conversations were confidential.” He clearly wants them to remain so. That’s the key point. > > Lawyers will tell you that no payment or formal representation agreement is required to create a lawyer-client relationship which produces the privilege. That’s not standard. But it’s not required. [/INDENT][/INDENT][/INDENT] [Making Sense of Hannity’s Weird Evasions - TPM – Talking Points Memo](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime-beta/making-sense-of-hannitys-weird-evasions) Doesn’t matter. Hannity may have “assumed these conversations were confidential”. That doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. I assume that my conversations with my banker and my doctor are confidential; that doesn’t make them my attorneys. Hannity may even have assumed that these conversations were privileged (though, NB, he doesn’t say so). But that wouldn’t matter either. My assumption that I benefit from a particular legal privilege doesn’t create that privilege. It’s correct to say that the lawyer/client relationship doesn’t require payment. But it does require more than an assumption of confidentiality. > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > No. Hannity might have been lying. He might have been lying, but that would be enough to nullify the privilege. Hannity cannot simultaneously deny that Cohen was ever his attorney, and assert attorney/client privilege in relation to his communications with Cohen. It’s wildly unlikely that Hannity is denying that Cohen is his attorney, and still expecting to successfully assert privilege. The reasonable inference is that he therefore doesn’t intend to claim privilege, which may indicate that whatever he took Cohen’s advice on is, in itself, relatively innocuous. What embarrasses him is the fact that he had Cohen as an adviser at all. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/553 "2018-04-18T01:43:16Z")
Hannity got lawyers. Even if he didn’t, he’d still have Fox lawyers. Whatever utility Sean “the Big Giant Head” may have for Mr Cohen, lawyering ain’t likely to be it. Might have something to do with internet rumors about him and Très Gowdy. No one seems to know how these things get started. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/554 "2018-04-18T01:49:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now the right wing Facebook legions are up in arms. It turns out that Judge Kimba Wood of the Cohen case officiated at the wedding of George Soros! The Deep State strikes again! I keep an eye on what Russian controlled Twitter accounts are tweeting about [over here](https://dashboard.securingdemocracy.org/). Kimba Wood was trending earlier today and I was wondering what the hook was. Now I know. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/555 "2018-04-18T02:04:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **UDS** : > > It’s wildly unlikely that Hannity is denying that Cohen is his attorney, and still expecting to successfully assert privilege. The reasonable inference is that he therefore doesn’t intend to claim privilege, which may indicate that whatever he took Cohen’s advice on is, in itself, relatively innocuous. What embarrasses him is the fact that he had Cohen as an adviser at all. That’s certainly one possible explanation. Another is that Hannity is an idiot, and is reflexively lying without stopping to realize that it’s putting him in line for a world of hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/556 "2018-04-18T02:45:49Z")
Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair on Hannity and Cohen: Unnamed sources at Fox News say: “What the fuck? This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen.” Another says: “This is bad. It violates every rule of journalism.” A third opines: “Everyone’s first impression was the same: you only hire Cohen for one reason.” I am amused, surprised, and skeptical about these responses. Except for the last one. That makes sense. > **[“This Is Bad”: Inside Fox News, Staffers Fume Over Hannity’s Cohen Disclosure](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/04/fox-news-sean-hannity-michael-cohen-murdoch)** > > The revelation that Trump’s lawyer offered legal advice to Fox News’s biggest name was shocking, even to Fox loyalists. “Everyone’s first impression was the same: you only hire Cohen for one reason,” one staffer said. Bruce Bartlett, architect of the Kemp-Roth tax cuts later pushed by Reagan, on twitter: “Hilarious! Some Fox staffers apparently thought they worked for a real news organization that abided by journalistic ethics.” [https://twitter.com/BruceBartlett/status/986392393527291904](https://twitter.com/BruceBartlett/status/986392393527291904) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/557 "2018-04-18T08:15:00Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now the right wing Facebook legions are up in arms. It turns out that Judge Kimba Wood of the Cohen case officiated at the wedding of George Soros! The Deep State strikes again! Somebody’s gotta dig up all those pics of Trump at parties with the Clintons and Obamas when he was close buds with them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/558 "2018-04-18T08:43:38Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/559 "2018-04-18T08:45:21Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Unnamed sources at Fox News say: “What the fuck? This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen.” Another says: “This is bad. It violates every rule of journalism.” > [@](#): > > Bruce Bartlett, architect of the Kemp-Roth tax cuts later pushed by Reagan, on twitter: “Hilarious! Some Fox staffers apparently thought they worked for a real news organization that abided by journalistic ethics.” [x.com](https://twitter.com/BruceBartlett/status/986392393527291904) Bingo! Someone should break the news to them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163/560 "2018-04-18T09:54:06Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Bingo! Someone should break the news to them. [And hit Chuck Todd over the head with a clue-by-4.](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chuck-todd-stunned-that-fox-news-will-not-punish-sean-hannity) “Stunned” that there will be no repercussions for Hannity at Fox News? _Seriously??_ I mean, has he ever _watched_ Fox News? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-sued-by-stormy-daniels-over-hush-payment/810163.md?page=29)