Patterico's Pontifications

3/11/2018

Report: Trump Looking to Block Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes Interview

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:30 pm



If this report is accurate, it’s a fool’s errand. The Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon Papers to be published, but they’re going to block this?

Lawyers associated with President Donald Trump are considering legal action to stop 60 Minutes from airing an interview with Stephanie Clifford, the adult film performer and director who goes by Stormy Daniels, BuzzFeed News has learned.

“We understand from well-placed sources they are preparing to file for a legal injunction to prevent it from airing,” a person informed of the preparations told BuzzFeed News on Saturday evening.

It was not immediately clear what legal argument the lawyers would be making to support the considered litigation, and Trump and his legal team often have threatened litigation without following through on those threats in the past.

It’s become increasingly clear that the funds to shut Daniels up were actually paid (not just “facilitated”) by Cohen, who may have been expecting Trump to pay him back. There’s a potential FEC violation if there was never an intent to pay him back and the payment was not reported as a campaign contribution. I place the chances of a successful bid to block the broadcast somewhere around zero.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

64 Responses to “Report: Trump Looking to Block Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes Interview”

  1. 1. First.

    2. I can’t believe the media and democrats are firing off the Stormy Daniels t shirt cannon seven months before midterms, in the middle of College Basketball, The Walking Dead and it looks like Westworld Season Two.

    Pinandpuller (c28de0)

  2. Question for Patterico, or any of the lawyers who read this:

    Let’s assume there was a non-disclosure agreement signed at some point between parties A and B. Party A learns that party B is appearing on a national TV news program, and has reason to believe that party B is going to discuss subjects covered by the NDA on that news program. Once a non-disclosure agreement is breached on national TV, the harm is irreparable: millions of people know about it now. Would an injunction be feasible at that point? And who would it be issued against? Party B, who seems likely to ignore a court order anyway? Or the TV news program, who might be directed to ensure that party B complies with the NDA?

    And at what point do non-disclosure agreements between two private individuals (as Trump and Clifford were at the time) become a First Amendment issue?

    Trump’s behavior so far is leading me to believe that there really was a non-disclosure agreement, which in turn makes me suspect what it might cover. But it’s the legal questions around this subject that I’m finding truly fascinating.

    Robin Munn (7d6cce)

  3. Is it sweeps week @ Patterico?

    I’m confused because there’s no picture.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  4. A litigious DJT attempting to protect his brand? Pshaw.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  5. And the same people who were loudly proclaiming that the “Monica Lewinsky” thing was just about consensual sex between two adults rather than Monica Lewinsky being Exhibit A in Paula Jones’ lawsuit over Bill Clinton engaging in a pattern of sexual harassment will now be loudly proclaiming that this has nothing to do with the sex but the lying about it and trying to cover it up. And vice versa.

    Jerryskids (cfad51)

  6. Mark Cuban who actually did what trump has said in that tape, is more or less getting a pass.

    Schumer, whose wiki article listing at least one incident, makes Trump look like a choir boy

    Oh well

    EPWJ (4dc563)

  7. So what is Trump afraid of? That people will think he’s a philanderer? Shoot they knew that before they elected him and if they didn’t they were terribly uninformed and blind to the man’s character. Is he afraid it would be the last straw for Melania? Perhaps. He knows he has a huge asset in her being there and for her to depart would mean losing some support. Optics. It’s all optics.

    Is he afraid it will give Mueller another avenue to pursue? Perhaps. I’ve been listening to Scandalous on FOX (listen because I don’t watch TV but you can hear it on Sirius radio) and it’s amazing to me to see history repeat itself with the parties switched. The Republicans went after Clinton one thing after another, just kept digging until they found something to stick, not that it got him out of office but they pursued relentlessly, Whitewater, Rose Law Firm billing, Cattle Futures, then Monica and Clinton was his own undoing in that. Clinton just couldn’t tell the truth. Trump likewise has a bulldog after him, one thing after another, Russia goes to Finances, goes to…. on and on. It will be the money issue that gets investigated and the weak spot, not what she reveals in my opinion. And Trump will likely be his own undoing in it because I’m not sure the man knows how to tell the truth concerning this (and many other things). If not this one then another one will come up until Trump trips himself.

    It’s the same old story of politics and politicians. Isn’t the first and won’t be the last.

    I don’t think the courts will block this. If there is a non-disclosure agreement then there will be a lawsuit and that might dissuade her but I think she’ll be singing because she’s making a truck load of money for this.

    Marci (98fec4)

  8. Here is the game being played here: put out the rumor via your henchmen , the press, that Trump is trying to silence this via raw power . This hopefully will cause an uproar with the public so that it is a win win situation for the left. Trouble is who cares, because it was not done while in office like john kennedy, bill clinton and ted kennedy .

    Otto (c00bfe)

  9. It’s as natural for rich powerful men to screw porn stars, as it is for hickory bulls to service sultry biding hurds. Which of course brings men into conflict with restrictions imposed by social constructs like informal notions of proprietary or formal marriage vows.

    Our natural instincts can never be fully restrained by civil conventions, consequently our behavior will sometimes fall short of our ideals. We’re always humans first before we aspire to anything else.

    ropelight (0613b7)

  10. what’s your thinking on this I’m discomfited to find myself agreeing with Mr. Steyer

    The proposals would end the practice of requiring criminal defendants from having to post money as a condition of release from jail and would instead require counties to set up pre-trial services agencies to consider whether defendants pose a harm to the community or are okay to release.

    California Gov. Jerry Brown has concerns about the costs such an overhaul would place on counties.

    Attorney General Xavier Becerra has supported the bail system overhaul, arguing earlier this year that “bail decisions should be based on danger to the public, not dollars in your pocket.”

    Keeping defendants locked up because they can’t pay the amounts judges set for pre-trial releases “entrenches people in a cycle of poverty” and allows wealthier defendants accused of crimes to operate freely before their trials.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  11. You mean stormy Daniels who had a a,domestic abuse charge in 09, whose campaign manager’s Brian lynch car was blown up the following year

    narciso (d1f714)

  12. The Smoking Gun has the Tampa Bay Police report, according to which Daniels “told cops that she did not intentionally hit her husband, but acknowledged tossing a potted plant in the kitchen sink, throwing the couple’s wedding album on the floor, and breaking some candles.”

    it turns out she’s one of those insane dirty hooker-sluts

    this is why Anderson Cooper kept accidentally calling her “mom” during the interview

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  13. No marci after Clinton had fired every us atty, after his minions went after everyone who tried to investigate their bank and real estate fraud, then targeted the independent counsel, with the total approval of the press

    narciso (d1f714)

  14. Why is Trump working so hard to keep this story alive? Most notably, with having Cohen come out and confirm all the dirty details including the payoff to the hooker? If not for that, the story would have lost its legs months ago. Is it that important to him to keep on proving that he is a heterosexual?

    nk (dbc370)

  15. It,seems you can point out everything except the truth, there is no market for that.

    narciso (56b4d0)

  16. Tell the truth, and run like hell!

    ropelight (0613b7)

  17. #KAGEP

    (Keep America Great Exclamation Point)

    Dave (247a3e)

  18. They could maybe get an injunction against Stephanie Clifford (also known as Stormy Daniels and Peggy Peterson) on the grounds that she signed away her right to make money off of it, or maybe eve signed way the right to tslk about it, but I am nt sure you really can get injunctions like that.

    But they can’t get an injunction against CBS, although Donald Trump has been known to make legal filings asking for things that never would be upheld by a good, honest judge. Maybe that can scare people who don’t have a good lawyer.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  19. Marci (98fec4) — 3/12/2018 @ 5:46 am

    So what is Trump afraid of?

    Hi Marci, I enjoy your comments. I think that is the wrong question. Even the right question is prone to become the wrong question over time. We are engaged in talking about the weather, I think. No, I am not saying Trump is a force of nature, but rather, the result of the forces of human nature upon a man.

    felipe (023cc9)

  20. Schwarzenegger Accuses Big Oil Of 1st Degree Murder

    Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has accused Big Oil of first-degree murder and plans to sue the supermajors, he said during a Politico podcast at the SWSW festival.

    do we really need policy advice from a nasty geriatric trash-slut who couldn’t keep his penis out of his maid?

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  21. Allegory:

    The sun and the wind contested to see who had a greater force upon man, when along came DJT.

    felipe (023cc9)

  22. i wonder if he ever nailed the maid in the back of his hummer

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  23. do we really need policy advice from a nasty geriatric trash-slut who couldn’t keep his penis out of his maid?
    happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/12/2018 @ 9:36 am

    It aim’t* a question of need, Happy.

    aim’t ain’t a word.

    felipe (023cc9)

  24. my goodness this is the same unscientific marxist policy twaddle you’d get if you elected a malicious and desultory Ohio burn victim like John Kasich

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  25. Allegory continued:

    The sun shone mightily upon DJT, the land became parched and barren. DJT looked neither to the right, nor to the left, but brought out his phone and texted, then walked on.

    felipe (023cc9)

  26. 71. Marci (98fec4) — 3/12/2018 @ 5:46 am

    7.So what is Trump afraid of? That people will think he’s a philanderer?

    That he did it, or at least broke down one day, after his marriage to Melania in 2005. The marriage wsas supposed to mean an end to anything involvoing other women. He’s been accused of approaching a number of women at that a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in July 2006.

    So far nothing after 2006.

    Is he afraid it would be the last straw for Melania? Perhaps.

    We actually don’t know.

    I think by now he told the truth to Melania, so this is about public perception of him.

    Is he afraid it will give Mueller another avenue to pursue? Perhaps.

    He might have some problems with that.

    His claim will be:

    1) This was NOT a camapign finance expense, even if it was nmotivated by the elkection.

    2) It was his personall money – or maybe he set it up so that his lawyer had discretion to spend X number of dollars when he judged it wise to protext his reputation.

    The lawyer has claimed it was his own money, and he was not reimbursed. TYhis might have been said to avoid it being acamopaign finance violation. It could be considred a camopaign contribution. If it wsas trump’s money then maybe it is an accounting problem in that the expenditure wsas not run through the campqign.

    Hillary Clinton has a similar problem with the payments to Fusion GPS, which were, in part run through the cmapign and in part through the Democratic National CCommittee, but disguised as, or bundled together, with legal fees.

    Trump maybe will argue it is not necessary to run everything done for election purposes through the official campaign, or that legally it is not a campaign expenditure..

    Maybe whatever he says he has some problem so he wants to keep it all under wraps.

    I’ve been listening to Scandalous on FOX (listen because I don’t watch TV but you can hear it on Sirius radio) and it’s amazing to me to see history repeat itself with the parties switched. The Republicans went after Clinton one thing after another, just kept digging until they found something to stick,

    Clinton supplied them with material, to keep them from the really bad stuff.

    The Monica Lewinsky matter surfaced becase he was little bit too clever. He had sent Linda Tripp and Monica Lewisnsky to the exact same office – he kept them employed oin order to have ahold over them. He had also instigated the Paula Jones lawsuit, which was legally defective (she sued alleging the wrong tort – this was Clinton’s doing in fact, in my opinion, Bill Clinton ws responsible for the American Spectastor story taht lied about Paula Jones and for alerting her to it.
    \\\\

    not that it got him out of office but they pursued relentlessly, Whitewater, Rose Law Firm billing, Cattle Futures, then Monica and Clinton was his own undoing in that. Clinton just couldn’t tell the truth. Trump likewise has a bulldog after him, one thing after another, Russia goes to Finances, goes to…. on and on. It will be the money issue that gets investigated and the weak spot, not what she reveals in my opinion. And Trump will likely be his own undoing in it because I’m not sure the man knows how to tell the truth concerning this (and many other things). If not this one then another one will come up until Trump trips himself.

    It’s the same old story of politics and politicians. Isn’t the first and won’t be the last.

    I don’t think the courts will block this. If there is a non-disclosure agreement then there will be a lawsuit and that might dissuade her but I think she’ll be singing because she’s making a truck load of money for this.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  27. Allegory continued:

    The wind mocked the sun laughing her to scorn, then drew a such a breath that somewhere in the world an abhorrent, vacuum was born, then quickly aborted as the wind exhaled as never before, concentrating his full force upon the man.

    Looking neither to the left nor to the right, DJT once again retrieved his phone and texted, then walked on.

    felipe (023cc9)

  28. Allegory continued:

    The wind, gasping, regarded the sun with confusion as they both exchanged a helpless look of “WTH?”

    felipe (023cc9)

  29. The arbitrator told her no, they don’t feel bound by any law

    narciso (d1f714)

  30. Day 416 of the DOJ/FBI Politicization of Law Enforcement and the War on Republicans…

    Colonel Haiku (f0e797)

  31. The federalist piece on the search for the great white defendantin St. Louis, is of a piece.

    narciso (d1f714)

  32. Oops. The end of #26 is the rest of the quote from #7.

    Trump’s lawyer, by the way, at one point said the fact that money was paid to keep someone silent doesn’t mean the person whose silence was bought was telling the truth.

    But this would amount to an out-and-out admission it was done to help the campaign

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  33. felipe (023cc9) — 3/12/2018 @ 10:01 am

    Shaka, when the walls fell.

    Dave (247a3e)

  34. Sammy, you are allowed to spend as much as you want to help get somebody elected, including paying off every hooker in America, as long as you don’t coordinate with him. I believe that was the first SCOTUS case striking down federal campaign spending restrictions.

    As for the prostie’s lawsuit to declare the NDA illegal because Trump did not sign it, it’s totally frivolous. A third-party beneficiary does not need to be signed by the beneficiary. And the fact that Trump did not sign it helps him on the campaign contribution issue.

    And, finally, nothing demonstrates the degeneracy of the MSM more than a piece of sewer flotsam like Stormy Daniels being invited onto 60 Minutes to dish about the President of the United States.

    nk (dbc370)

  35. A third-party beneficiary *contract*

    nk (dbc370)

  36. Soon to be an episode of svu, the taken series had a corrupt war hero senate married to a Russian ‘charm school’ grad, covering all their baeses

    narciso (d1f714)

  37. And, finally, nothing demonstrates the degeneracy of the MSM more than a piece of sewer flotsam like Stormy Daniels being invited onto 60 Minutes to dish about the President of the United States.

    … unless it’s a piece of sewer flotsam like “David Dennison” being elected President of the United States…

    Dave (247a3e)

  38. do we really need policy advice from a nasty geriatric trash-slut who couldn’t keep his penis out of his maid?

    You can’t really blame the Arnold for that. The story I heard is the maid told Arnold she wanted a raise, and when he told Maria, she said “the maid wants a raise!? screw her!”

    The rest is history.

    the Bas (3bcea0)

  39. she got fired for giving up her cookies to Arnold, who says oil companies are murderous like the former rulers of Hitler’s Austria

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  40. Just throwin’ this out there.

    What if Stormy runs for president in 2020?

    She probably knows about as much as Trump on any particular policy issue (which is to say: nothing at all).

    But she pulls far ahead of President Dennison, at least in my estimation, on the character issue.

    “Democracy is theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H.L. Mencken

    Given the choice…well, ’nuff said.

    Dave (247a3e)

  41. Just throwing this out there. Trump is desperately trying to establish a reputation as 100% pussy-hound because there are any number of male Stormy Danielses out there waiting to be sprung on him.

    nk (dbc370)

  42. as long as he has fewer aggrieved stormies than pedophile Mitt Romney has similarly aggrieved young boys he’s still occupying what passes for moral high ground these days

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  43. I find it creepy that Stormy has the lemon blond hair and five-head thing going on…at least she is proof that on occasion Trump loves Tiffany as much as Ivanka.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  44. Last time when she ran for senate, he campaign managers car blowup, is there insurance for that, like harry Reid re tony spilotro.

    narciso (d1f714)

  45. Now “Stormy Daniels” has offered to return the $130,000 in return for getting out of her contract.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  46. It really Appears like an influence operation in favor of Qatar:

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/269570/does-mueller-just-want-keep-his-investigation-daniel-greenfield

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. How Americans loved to hate J.R. Ewing, too.

    What a show.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  48. 35. nk (dbc370) — 3/12/2018 @ 11:17 am

    Sammy, you are allowed to spend as much as you want to help get somebody elected, including paying off every hooker in America, as long as you don’t coordinate with him.

    That’s right. And the lawyer claimed (at least at first) that Trump was not involved. trump didn’t sign it, anyway.

    I believe that was the first SCOTUS case striking down federal campaign spending restrictions.

    I think that one was that a candidate could spend any amount of his own money. Maybe that also?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckley_v._Valeo

    The Court upheld limits on contributions to candidates.

    The Court upheld limitations on volunteer’s incidental expenses.

    The Court upheld the aggregate limit on an individual’s total contributions to all candidates and committees in a calendar year.

    The Court struck down limits on expenditures by candidates.

    The Court struck down limits on independent expenditures (i.e., expenditures by other groups or individuals than candidates and political parties).

    The Court upheld mandatory disclosure and reporting provisions, but it narrowed the types of speech to which they could apply.

    The Court upheld a system of voluntary government funding of campaigns, including limits on spending by candidates who choose to accept government subsidies.

    The Court struck down the system by which members of Congress directly appointed Federal Election Commission commissioners.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  49. hollyood trash-biscuit-with-daddy-issues Jennifer Lawrence’s new hooker film has made only $31,118,743 against a production budget if 69M

    (it’s a lot cause she’s not actually hot enough to play a believable hooker i think)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. oops a production budget *of* 69M i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. A third-party beneficiary does not need to be signed by the beneficiary.

    Here’s what I don’t understand.

    How is the state supposed to enforce a contract between fictitious parties entered into under fake names? For that matter, why is it in the state’s interest to enforce such prima facie fraudulent documents?

    If we sign a contract in which I, Emperor Palpatine of the Sith, promise to deliver a fully operational Death Star to the Alderaan system and transfer ownership to you, Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order, for the sum of $130,000, how can you sue me for non-performance? For that matter, how can you sue me at all, since you are not, in fact, Supreme Leader Snoke, and I am not (as far you know – bwahaha…) the Sith Emperor?

    If the contract does not (as I understand it) mention Spanky by name, how can it be enforced to prevent disclosure of information about him?

    Dave (445e97)

  52. This just in… ConDave tendering an offer for Foster Farms…

    Colonel Haiku (f0e797)

  53. “Love Me Tenders” by ConDave Presley
    Sun Records 1956

    Love me tenders
    Love white meat
    Never let it go
    It has made my life complete
    And I love it so

    [Verse 2]
    Love me tenders
    Love me true
    I can’t get my fill
    For my roaster I love you
    And I always will

    [Verse 3]
    Love me tenders
    Sing my song
    Know that parts is parts
    For in deep’s where I belong
    And we’ll never part

    [Verse 4]
    Love me drumsticks
    Love me thighs
    ‘specially with white wine
    You’ll be mine through all the years
    Till the end of time

    Colonel Haiku (f0e797)

  54. No marci after Clinton had fired every us atty, after his minions went after everyone who tried to investigate their bank and real estate fraud, then targeted the independent counsel, with the total approval of the press
    narciso (d1f714) — 3/12/2018 @ 7:37 am

    Yes, I agree totally. As usual I don’t fully explain my thoughts, I know I have a tendency to be long-winded so I don’t always fully explain my reasoning, which is just opinion, not fact. lol The gift of gab I have, just not always logically expressed gab…

    I think what I was finding so similar is that the Republican just never gave up on Clinton. I mean they went from one thing to another to another (with good reason). Clinton and the little woman were as guilty as sin in so many of the things that they avoided (one death or another) .. no doubt in my mind about that. My point was that the Democrats are now acting the same way with Trump, not that Trump is acting like Clinton. Whether or not Trump is guilty of anything I don’t know but the Dems are going to keep going on and on until they get something to stick. It is just politics as usual and yes, the media is in the left corner as to be expected.

    Marci (98fec4)

  55. Love me drumsticks
    Love me thighs
    ‘specially with white wine
    You’ll be mine through all the years
    Till the end of time
    Colonel Haiku (f0e797) — 3/12/2018 @ 2:57 pm

    Oddly enough this line of your poetic offerings made me think of my husband walking down the concourse of the airport in Houston. We had flown in on the same day from different areas and had landed within 10 minutes of each other. I had recently lost over 50 pounds and was back in size 8 jeans and we had this running joke about how I was no longer the lady with the big butt. He saw me ahead of him about 10 feet, I had not seen him get off his flight, and he semi-yelled (okay he yelled) “Hey Lady with the big butt!” And about 15 women turned around. I think if I hadn’t been there he might have been beat up by a bunch of angry women. lol (the love me thighs just brought that to mind)

    You know those cards that sing when you open them? I found two of them with the songs I wanted and rigged up my toilet seat before a party with them…. When someone sat on the seat the song “I like big butts and I can’t deny” started to play (that was a toughie to do, pressure activated). But when you lifted the lid the song “It’s a small world after all” played. I heard more laughter coming from the bathroom than ever before.

    I know, where is this coming from? from chicken thighs to toilets. It’s been a long day of watching grandchildren on spring break…..

    Marci (98fec4)

  56. The deems are always on offense, even when on defense, usually carrying the enemies water, the soviets the red Chinese the Castro regime the sandinistas about a decade they were trying to broker a deal with Marxist rebels in colombia. Carrying water for Al queda in Iraq,

    narciso (d1f714)

  57. Dave (445e97) — 3/12/2018 @ 2:19 pm

    A lady somewhere in the East just got her right to claim her $560 million lottery prize anonymously recognized by a court.

    You can have a Party of the First Part and a Party of the Second Part agree that the story of a certain transaction that the Party of the First Part engaged in is now the sole property of the Party of the Second Part, and Whereas the parties agree that the damages suffered by the Party of the Second Part in the event that the Party of the First discloses any information about said transaction to any third parties including, by way of illustration and not limitation, any news organizations or pornographic movie screenwriters, they Hereby further agree that in the event of the breach of The Agreement by the Party of the First, the Party of the First Part shall pay to the Party of the Second Part, as liquidated damages and not a penalty, the sum of One Million Dollars, should the Party of the Second Part elect to elect such payment of liquidated damages as aforementioned for the Party of the Second Part’s remedies, but nothing in the Agreement shall be construed to limit the Party of the Second Part’s remedies to the aforementioned liquidated and the Party of the Second Part shall be free to pursue any and all other remedies available to the Party of the Second Part, in Law or Equity, without limitation or further consideration.

    nk (dbc370)

  58. nk (dbc370) — 3/12/2018 @ 5:51 pm

    I still don’t see how you enforce the damages for telling a news organization about how and when she performed oral sex on someone without

    1) saying unambiguously who the someone is, and
    2) identifying all parties by their real names

    If the agreement prohibited her from talking about every sex act she ever performed in her life, with anyone, I suppose that would get around point #1, but that wasn’t my understanding of it.

    Dave (445e97)

  59. 1. Trump’s lawyers have never been the sharpest knives in the drawer;
    2. I have not see the NDA;
    3. I suspect that Trump hasn’t been able to get it up for twenty years — not with a woman anyway — and the whole thing is just a fiction to make him look like a virile man just like his “locker room talk”.

    nk (dbc370)

  60. That agregiously missed the point, ‘dont let a crisis go to waste’ even if you have to make it up.

    narciso (d1f714)


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