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    Not Enough Day DrinkingMonique Judge
    2/01/18 6:51pm

    My understanding is that lawyers aren’t just allowed to drop clients willy nilly. There have to be valid reasons. Typically those reasons are

    • failure to pay (doubtful)
    • asking the lawyer to commit a crime (unlikely)
    • the client refuses to listen to lawyers advice (possible)
    • the lawyer knows you intend to commit perjury (my bet)

    This scenario presents what legal scholar Monroe Freedman famously referred to as the lawyer’s “trilemma.” The attorney has an obligation to fight for the client’s interests, a responsibility to identify perjury to the court, and a duty to keep his client’s secrets. Because the client has put the attorney in a situation in which it’s impossible to fulfill all three professional obligations, some lawyers see this as a situation that demands withdrawal.

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/04/pulling_out.html

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      KickplateNot Enough Day Drinking
      2/01/18 7:19pm

      If history is any indication, all four of those scenarios are typical Trumpian behaviors.

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      thejewoshNot Enough Day Drinking
      2/01/18 7:24pm

      I think that the lawyers knowing that he intends to commit perjury and being asked to perjure themselves (and thus commit a crime) are equally likely.

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    bluelightblueMonique Judge
    2/01/18 6:39pm

    “I am not a lawyer, but I would think if three defense attorneys suddenly don’t want to defend a client any longer — especially in a high stakes case such as this — that could be an indication that an anvil is about to drop on someone’s head.”

    I am a lawyer and I’d respectfully respond that you’re reading too much into it. Lawyers withdraw for lots of reasons but your client being in deep shit doesn’t make you run for the hills. Lawyers defend people in deep shit all the time. Withdrawal doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the underlying merits of the case. More likely it has to do with an uncooperative client, or a client who has been deceptive or evasive, or who you believe is about to commit perjury (a good reason in a high profile case to ask for the withdrawal to be under seal). Even if the heavy shit is about to rain down on your client, you stick around and bill like crazy. Just my opinion though.

    ETA: Generally a court won’t allow withdrawal if the only basis is that your client is in deep shit and you don’t want to defend him. There are complicated ethical rules regarding under which circumstances a lawyer is allowed to withdraw.

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      acmeindustriesbluelightblue
      2/01/18 6:41pm

      I agree. Or the client doesn’t seem like he’s gonna pay his legal fees (but that wouldn’t explain the addition of another high $ lawyer to the team).

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      Velopsbluelightblue
      2/01/18 7:05pm

      I lean towards the client being deceptive. There are signs that point to them being kept in the dark every time the press uncovers something and asks them to respond. The responses remind me of deer caught in headlights.

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    cdwag14Monique Judge
    2/01/18 7:51pm

    The fact that Mueller is making Donald Trump and this collection of scumbags shit in their pants is too good. He has his tax returns and probably has the piss tape in high definition with directors commentary. Trump and his family of grifters made one fatal mistake, they pissed off the intelligence community. These men and women are dedicated to protecting The Unites States from all enemies FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. That is what they see this fat, bloated sack of shit as, an enemy. Take his fat ass down and send him to a federal fuck em in the ass prison for the rest of his life. Yeah I know that it may not happen but the fact that this fat turd is scared of what this man can and may do to him is wonderful.

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      Brwnskngurlcdwag14
      2/02/18 12:07am

      I love this. You are spot on but I want that fat, bloated bastard in PRISON!!

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    Jaqen H'gharMonique Judge
    2/01/18 8:44pm

    I’m just gonna post this little screengrab from the other day here. You know since they are trying to discredit everything that is happening in this investigation.

    Illustration for article titled
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      TheBurnersMyDestinationJaqen H'ghar
      2/02/18 11:27am

      Seriously, what was the famously conservative FBI’s plan supposed to be? Conduct an investigation into Trump and never tell the electorate about it, continue dropping hints that Hillary was in trouble, drop a memo that helped tank her poll numbers in the last days of the election, and then ?????? profits?

      God it annoys me so much that some people actually believe there is some sort of conspiracy there.

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      insert something creative hereTheBurnersMyDestination
      2/02/18 2:25pm

      Yeah, until he won, no one could argue that if the FBI was set on sabotaging anyone, it was Clinton. Now that he won and all of the illegal shit he did during the campaign and before to enrich himself and his accomplices (he has no actual friends) actually matters, time to paint the FBI as the most liberal liberals that have ever liberalled.

      Give me a fucking break.

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    AuntBeetsyreduxMonique Judge
    2/01/18 6:37pm

    Dare I hope..?

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      rustynailerAuntBeetsyredux
      2/01/18 6:42pm

      Go for it. I mean, what do you have to lose?

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      Rooo sez BISH PLZAuntBeetsyredux
      2/01/18 7:15pm

      Do know this (it was something Rachel reminded us the other evening that I’d forgotten):

      Remember that missing $107M from the inaugural committee that was left over from that terrible concert on Jan 20, 2017 that nobody attended except the wanna-be authoritarians - when the Obamas raised some $5M for their inauguration and spent every cent on a historic bash that included performances from Bey & Jay? And how somehow nobody can find that money or account for its whereabouts ...?

      Gates was chairperson of the inaugurating committee. I’ll bet he knows where that money is.

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    PersnicketyPants (Vive la Resistance!)Monique Judge
    2/01/18 7:44pm

    I think the Mueller investigation is like an iceberg; only a tiny fraction of it is visible. I suspect that we are going to be shocked by the time he is done and comes out with his final report. If he lasts that long, that is; given that it appears that the pretext of the Nunes memo will be used to thwart Mueller’s investigation.

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      Dinosaurs and Nachos, Very Legal and Very Cool!PersnicketyPants (Vive la Resistance!)
      2/01/18 8:23pm

      1. Definitely the tip of the iceberg. The fact that we know almost nothing is a testament to Muellers professionalism, not an indication there’s nothing there. 2. I’m sure he has his basis covered in the event he is fired.

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      PersnicketyPants (Vive la Resistance!)Dinosaurs and Nachos, Very Legal and Very Cool!
      2/01/18 8:44pm

      I absolutely think that Mueller laid out a game plan in the event he is fired a long time ago. The problem is whether there will be enough people left to protect the investigation should Rosenstein be fired and replaced by a Trump loyalist who will limit or shut it down completely.

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    Rooo sez BISH PLZMonique Judge
    2/01/18 7:47pm

    Back in the pool; putting a few grand on a completed plea deal:

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    SuarezHambriento2Monique Judge
    2/01/18 7:47pm

    Trial attorney and among other things, do criminal defense. He’s probably about to cut a deal, and Green is known for his ability to get those in high stakes situations (e.g., Iran Contra).

    As to guess re: what Mueller’s got: laundering money for Russian oligarchs and / or Russian Mafia. When I was still working for an NYC white shoe firm that reps JPM on the reg, none of the institutional banks would give our idiot american id pres a fucking dollar, nor would anyone get involved in his real estate deals b/c he’s a fucking liar that would backtrack / fuck you over / do whatever brazen shit that might tank a deal that you’ve already spend millions of dollars trying to close to the point that it wasn’t worth doing business w/ him.

    Anyway, looking forward to it and hope it ends w/ RICO claims against his entire family and they’re stripped of everything, however unlikely that may be.

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      triumphantd0veSuarezHambriento2
      2/02/18 12:09am

      I second the Russia money laundering theory, I work for a bank that primarily provides credit products to large multinational corporates and our credit policy and anti money laundering would never let us lend to Trump.

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    Hyperbolic Idiot ChamberMonique Judge
    2/01/18 6:57pm

    I don’t think that his lawyers are cutting and running simply because he’s gonna lose, because they will still get paid. Most likely he’s either not paying or he is being uncooperative or won’t listen to them.

    As for what Muller might have, I would wager it’s something for the simple reason that Trump and Co have stepped up their attacks.

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    Chip RiptideMonique Judge
    2/01/18 7:44pm

    High profile defense attorneys leap at the chance to take on the Fed at this level. It’s playing with House money. If you loose, no shit, he was guilty. If you find a way to scramble out of it, big time payday is a coming with future Charlie Kushner types.

    The only reason you leave is you think your client either has or is about to lie under oath, lied directly to you, or has another lawyer with a competing strategy. In this case, I’d bet all of the above.

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      Too30ForThisMessChip Riptide
      2/01/18 9:17pm

      This. There are attorneys who get up in the morning, hoping that something like shows up on their desks. They gun for the big money and the notoriety. The big money isn’t necessarily the billable hours, but the memoir, the movie, and a global consulting gig.

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