By Patrick F. Cannon
When then citizen Donald Trump paid Stormy Dainels $130,000 to keep her trap shut about their sexual encounter, it was considered a hush money payment, not blackmail. Apparently, if both parties agree to the settlement without coercion, everything’s hunky dory. You may recall that he was convicted of hiding the payment, not making it.
While only a guess on my part, I would think Stormy was only one of several women who got paid off during Trump’s interesting passage through life. At any rate, he has become something of an expert in using something very like blackmail in his orgy of revenge against those he accuses of being involved in the criminal indictments he escaped by being elected president. At least three (and counting) of America’s largest “white shoe” law firms have caved to Trump’s threat to bar them from Federal facilities and take away partner’s security clearances.
For those who don’t have a clue what “white shoe” means, it refers to bygone days when rich men wore white buck shoes with their summer duds. They were also favored by Ivy League undergrads, the kind of young men who ended up with the largest and most prestigious New York and Washington law firms. By the way, you can still buy white bucks if you’re willing to keep them white or perhaps have a Jeeves to do it for you.
One of the firms that President Trump targeted was Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom. Rather than lose business, Skadden Arps agreed to provide causes and people Trump specifies with $100 million in free legal services. Since both sides agreed to this arrangement, it seems to be perfectly legal. But really, it’s blackmail, isn’t it? Just like threatening countries with high tariffs or threatening Republican lawmakers with primary opponents if they don’t say Trump’s lies are the gospel truth.
A law firm founded in Chicago, Jenner & Block, decided not to cave. Instead, they’ve taken the Trump administration to court, claiming the president’s revenge spree is unconstitutional. This makes no impression on Trump, who isn’t aware we have one. I don’t have a clue how the courts will rule on this and the dozens (or is it hundreds) of lawsuits brought by Trump’s aggrieved victims.
Do you see the irony here? The president will now be able to use Skadden Arps and the other firms who cave to defend his actions in court. They will be required by the canon of ethics to give their best efforts on behalf of the clients he chooses for them. You know, just like they’re required to give their all for an accused murderer.
I wonder if any of these legal eagles will give a helping hand to Rudy Guiliani? The last time I looked, he was still trying to collect the $2,000,000 in legal fees he says Trump never paid. Rudy – a bankrupt by the way – is still under indictment in Georgia, so the costs will keep adding up. His former client is said to be disappointed in Rudy for failing to overturn the 2020 election. Just another loser like John McCain. If he’s really broke, he can always get a court-appointed attorney. He might have defended himself, but he was disbarred.
Copyright 2025, Patrick F. Cannon
cannonnadedotcom 
There ought to be a law against legal blackmail!
Or, at least, a prohibition barring politicized lawfare. No?
Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff, Christopher Steele and the host of others in the media and government who perpetrated the Russia collusion dirty trick are repenting as they languish in prison for their crimes.
Wait, what’s that? They never were even formally accused for defrauding the country and making a mockery of our election process? Oh, I see. No evidence. It was about defending our democracy. Never mind.
As for Skadden Arps, they raised the white flag even before they were constrained to do so, as a form of apology perhaps, for bringing contrived cases against Trump during his first term. They understand “legal blackmail,” also known as getting even. Does anyone feel bad for law firms?
Now that the files on Operation Hurricane are being made public, they saw advantages in burnishing their reputation with pro bono work.
We should feel bad for Rudy Giuliani. He grew up in humble circumstances in Brooklyn. He never was a white shoe lawyer. Still, he led New York City after 911 and earned praise as its greatest mayor. For his defending Trump and leaving the Democrat party, the Left and the media never forgave him. They identified their victim, went after him hammer and tongs, Alinsky-style, and sought to destroy him, as they’ve done or tried to do with so many others. That’s how the Dems operate, even as they fashion themselves, with righteous indignation, as guardians of Justice.
But that’s politics. You like it or you don’t. Trump somehow managed to survive everything the Dems and the media hurled at him: Russian collusion, two impeachments, mass produced mailed ballots, a slew of legal accusations and partisan judges, personal vilification, and even a not so Secret Service that set the stage for one and maybe two assassination attempts.
Now Trump is president. He’s having as much fun as presidents are allowed to have, giving back as much as he got. He even re-arranged the seating in the WH press room. Priceless!
There’s no point in crying about it. Sit back and behold the spectacle. Wall Street is in panic mode: No more cheap Chinese goods. The Chinese are flabbergasted: No more easy American money. (We consume, they produce: Strategic dependence is no favorable situation.) Ironic that cheering loudest at yesterday’s Rose Garden tariff announcement were US auto union representatives. Was it that long ago that organized labor was the domain of the Dems?
Bernie Sanders must be pulling his remaining hair out.
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As it happens, we’re both too old to be around when Trump’s glorious future arrives. In the meantime, I hope your investments don’t take too much of a hit. Of course, politics is involved in the various attempts to remove or convict him. It’s inconceivable that it would have happened in a Republican controlled Congress. Politics aside, he was certainly guilty of most of what he was charged with, but Teflon Don escaped. By the way, enough of the “Johnny did it too” excuse. I have no love for Hillary, as most people know. Let’s see if they can come up with a plausible indictment. Finally, the 2020 election has already been gone over and over. The Republican House had two years with subpoena power to find those ballots. Maybe they’re just as dumb as they look.
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The future is now.
Trade, unlike the textbook notions of mutual benefits, is a predatory business. The tariffs announced yesterday are puzzling to many as they seem to contradict conventional wisdom and have created friction with trading partners. Quite likely, they are intended to begin conversations, which I believe will begin after the initial shock wears off. They may lure companies to locate operations in the US. They may motivate countries to reduce their tariffs and other protectionist measure against us. They address mercantilist policies and may in the end promote global efficiency. Or maybe they won’t. We don’t know yet.
I saw a report this morning that noted how foolish the Germans have been to rely so heavily on American largesse. Gee, I wonder who twisted their collective arm.
Trump was “certainly” guilty. Guilty of what, pray tell? After two years of intense and well publicized investigation, the Mueller exercise found nothing. The court cases were hastily dropped. In the one “felony” case, nobody has been able to explain exactly what law he was convicted of violating, so nebulous and contrived was the indictment and trial. As for the 2020 ballots, you know they were as untraceable as they were startling in number. Eight-one million, by a large margin a new and unbeaten record, especially against an incumbent, and for a candidate who was as dynamic and convincing as a Madame Tussaud waxwork.
I don’t see Republicans viciously attacking opposition office holders, candidates and associates as Democrats and their media have done, do you? Johnny doesn’t do it, too. The Dems know that even if lawfare fails, it’s often more effective at destroying someone. Read Saul Alinsky. That’s the Democrats’ game, and what we see today is the result of it. Only now they cry foul.
People grew so tired of Trump bashing that they elected him decisively. Find a more fertile topic, if only for the sake of your dedicated, patient readers who enjoy your weekly columns. Leave the hatchet jobs to the NYT and Washington Post! That’s their bread and butter.
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You may be right about tariffs encouraging negotiation. About Trump, we will never agree. If you think I’m beating a dead horse, stop riding along with me. I would prefer never to write about him again — but he refuses to cooperate.
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