If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck… then it must be witness tampering.

Remember last week when the New York DA’s office indicted former President Donald J. Trump on 34 counts of felony Falsification of Business records? Do you recall that Michael Cohen, former lawyer/fixer to the the former President, is the star witness in that case?

This week, Trump filed suit in Florida against Cohen seeking $500 million in damages. The lawsuit alleges that Cohen spread false information about Trump. The lawsuit accuses Cohen of revealing confidential information in media interviews about the Manhattan Distract Attorney’s grand jury investigation that lead to Trump’s indictment. The lawsuit also alleges that Cohen revealed confidential information in the books he has published.

To lawyers, the attorney-client privilege is sacrosanct. To the uninitiated, attorney-client privilege basically means that statements you make to your lawyer are strictly confidential and cannot (under most circumstances) be revealed to outside sources by your attorney. It is a bedrock principle in the practice of law. Without it, effective representation is impossible. When an attorney violates their client’s trust and expectation of confidentiality, that is a tremendous breach of the attorney’s fiduciary responsibility and ethical obligations. However, there are circumstances when the privilege can be overridden. For example when both the attorney and client are being investigated for criminal wrongdoing. I can imagine situations where an attorney can be compelled to speak during criminal proceedings. All that is to say, Cohen’s actions have been questionable. I do not know the details of what confidential information he may have revealed, or if it was revealed in circumstances that violated the law or his duties to his client. Cohen is not innocent, and he may very well have violated his duties to his client. That being said, if the client is asking the attorney to engage in illegal conduct… well that changes the equation.

But….. this lawsuit was filed on April 12, 2023, about a week after Trump was indicted based on the very statements and information Trump is suing Cohen for revealing. That is not a coincidence. Whether or not the Trump lawsuit against Cohen has a valid factual/legal basis is beside the point. The lawsuit’s single solitary purpose is to intimidate Michael Cohen. Trump has millions of dollars and an army of lawyers to do his bidding. Michael Cohen…. he has … revenues from his book deals? Certainly, Cohen’s resources are the tiniest fraction of what Trump has at his disposal. Trump wants to intimidate Cohen into withdrawing his testimony. Trump wants to hang a $500 million lawsuit over Cohen’s head in order to make him think twice about testifying against him. Trump wants to stop Cohen from testifying.

We have a phrase for that - witness tampering. Using the legal system to intimidate a witness into silence might be legal. However, that does not change what it is. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck… well you get it.