Trump says in the filing that it isn't a 'formal' advice-of-counsel defense, however.
Donald Trump notified Judge Juan Merchan of his intent to raise an advice-of-counsel defense at his coming criminal trial in New York. The former president, however, says in the filing that it isn't a 'formal' advice-of-counsel defense—meaning that 'there is no privilege waiver' of attorney-client communications.
Attorney Bradley P. Moss, a frequent critic of Trump, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, 'This is weird and I would like to hear from NY lawyers if Trump can play this game. He actually isn't invoking the defense: he is sort of informally doing it.'Trump is facing a trial over allegations related to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.The ContextMichael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, testified to paying Daniels $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from discussing publicly an affair that Trump allegedly had with her. Cohen initially claimed he made the payment out of his own pocket and was not reimbursed by Trump or The Trump Organization. However, subsequent investigations and legal proceedings revealed that Cohen was reimbursed by Trump and his company, which included a $35,000 monthly retainer to Cohen for his services.The payment and its reimbursement have raised significant legal questions, particularly regarding campaign finance law. The central issue is whether the $130,000 payment constituted an unreported campaign contribution. Federal law requires the disclosure of all campaign contributions and places limits on the amounts individuals can donate. If the payment to Daniels was intended to influence the election by preventing damaging information from being made public, it could be considered an illegal campaign contribution.In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including campaign finance violations related to the payments to Daniels and another woman, Karen McDougal. Cohen stated in court that he made the payments 'in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office,' implying that Trump was involved in the scheme.What We KnowTrump admitted to reimbursing Cohen for the payment to Daniels but denied the affair ever happened. Trump listed the payment to Cohen as 'legal fees' in his company records.'These agreements are very common among celebrities and people of wealth,' Trump posted on Twitter in 2018.ViewsTrump attorneys said that his defense, in part, will be that he 'lacked the requisite intent to commit the conduct charged in the indictment.''President Trump intends to elicit these facts from witnesses ... whom we expect will testify about President Trump's awareness of counsel's involvement in the charged conduct. This is not a formal advice-of-counsel defense,' his lawyers wrote in a criminal court filing made public Tuesday.Moss continued on X, 'So the way I read this is that Trump's legal argument is his intent can never meet the requisite criminal threshold by virtue of the fact that lawyers were involved. Sort of an 'I gave orders, I assume the lawyers do everything lawfully, I am now covered' argument.'What's Next?In total, Trump is facing 91 felony charges spread across four indictments. He has denied wrongdoing in all of his cases and has said charges against him are politically motivated.Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has strongly objected to Trump lawyers' claim that they cannot file documents in his classified documents case in Florida because it clashes with the coming hush money trial.Trump sought a 10-day delay in filing documents in Florida because he and his lawyers have to prepare for the Daniels case, which begins on March 25.In her ruling on Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, granted the ex-president's request for an extension. He can now file his documents on or before March 24 instead of Thursday.Update 03/12/24, 4:51 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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