Sunday, July 22, 2018

Ethics Inquiry for Leak of Cohen-Trump Playboy Bunny Tape?


Someone apparently leaked the tape in which Trump and Cohen discussed the possibility of reimbursing A.M.I. (parent company of National Enquirer) for its pre-election capture and kill of Karen McDougal’s story of her year-long affair with the  parent of the then infant Barron Trump.

If the tape was attorney-client privileged, or even a client secret, then it would violate ethics for Cohen to leak it. It would, similarly, be a breach for Giuliani or any of Trump’s other lawyers to leak it without Trump’s consent.  

So, either Trump leaked this himself, or someone violated the lawyers’ code of ethics.  Trump should be asked. If he denies directing the leak himself, then an ethics investigation would be appropriate. Of course, it is conceivable that the investigation would turn up that there was no lawyerly breach, Trump having lied on the point.   

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