Crime

Is Michael Cohen Dropping His Lawsuit Because The Pee Tape Is True? Or Because He's Got Bigger Problems?

When clearly competent legal strategy gets urinated on.

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(Photo by THIERRY ZOCCOLAN/AFP/Getty Images)

“If you’re innocent, you should sue for defamation” is one of the most consistently unhelpful thoughts that percolates through the non-lawyer community. It’s not quite as unhelpful as “why do you need lawyers/legal strategies if you have nothing to hide,” but thinking that “innocent” people can and should sue just because somebody spreads a falsehood about them is right up there.

Bringing a lawsuit doesn’t mean you are presumed to be “more innocent.” Nor does the mere existence of a lawsuit “counter” good, well-sourced reporting. People shouldn’t bring defamation lawsuits just to “change the narrative.” That’s not how the law works.

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and a… “friend” to Sean Hannity, never should have brought a suit against BuzzFeed in the first place. BuzzFeed published a report on the infamous “Steele Dossier.” That report alleged that Cohen went to the Czech Republic to try to suppress the dossier. Cohen vehemently denied that he went to Prague, but then sued BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS for defamation.

Suing BuzzFeed was the quintessential Joanne Galloway, “I strenuously object” dumb lawyer move. Cohen is a public person, which means he’d have to show that BuzzFeed reported with “actual malice” against him, which is a pretty high bar. Cohen would have to show that his reputation was somehow harmed by the report, and given the fact that there are nuclear waste dumps with less toxic reputations than Cohen, it was always going to be hard for him to show any damages. But most importantly, truth is a complete defense to defamation. If the lawsuit proceeded, BuzzFeed would be allowed to discover any documents, emails, voice recordings, or other evidence that shed light on the truth of their claims.

If you’re Michael Cohen — or Donald Trump, for that matter — the last thing you could possibly want would be for a major media organization like BuzzFeed rooting through your papers. Whether or not the BuzzFeed report was actually true is almost irrelevant to the question of whether you want BuzzFeed going through your emails.

The lawsuit was never going anywhere. It was always just another bullying tactic by Cohen who apparently spent three years at law school learning how to pronounce law-sounding words without ever opening a casebook. Then again, he went to Cooley, maybe that’s their whole curriculum.

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But now, Cohen has dropped the suit against BuzzFeed.

Even if Cohen never went to Prague to suppress the pee tape, the suit should never have been initiated.

Even if Cohen never went to Prague to suppress the pee tape, it’s smart for Cohen to drop the suit and limit his discovery exposure now, when he is facing criminal investigation.

Making the legally smart decision to drop a frivolous lawsuit does not prove the truth about Cohen’s actions, or the veracity of the pee tape.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m positive in my heart that the Steele Dossier is true: Trump is being blackmailed by Russians who have tape of him watching prostitutes pee on a bed, and Cohen went to Prague to try to suppress the dossier. I think it’s all true, ALL OF IT, and now that Mueller knows Cohen went to Prague and McClatchy knows Cohen went to Prague, Cohen knows that suing BuzzFeed is both futile and puts him in more legal danger and so it’s time to give up that ghost front.

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I’m just pointing out that Cohen withdrawing from a stupid lawsuit he shouldn’t have started doesn’t actually give us more information. It doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about Cohen, except that he is perhaps getting competent legal advice for the first time in his life.

Withdrawing from the lawsuit does not prove the claims in the Steele Dossier. But if you thought the Steele Dossier was fake until Cohen abandoned his lawsuit, then you really need to watch something other than Fox News.

Cohen drops libel suits against BuzzFeed, Fusion GPS [Politico]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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