GIULIANI, today: Trump paid Stormy Daniels because he "was very concerned about how this was going to affect his marriage"
GIULIANI, 5/3/18: "Imagine if that came out of October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Clinton…Cohen made it go away. He did his job"
Ineffective assistance of counsel is the applicable term of art I believe.
With or without Giuliani's multiple missteps I believe Trump's legal jeopardy is more severe than generally realized on this issue. The SDNY has to be seriously considering an indictment. I know there is DOJ guidance against indicting a sitting president. But what about for crimes that allowed him to get elected in the first place. It seems to me that even if there is a general policy against indicting a sitting president, there is a different set of considerations involved when the crime is one that was committed during the quest to become president. The office that confers immunity was itself improperly gained.
And there is a question I've raised before and think is worth asking again: What did David Pecker expect to get in exchange for helping his buddy that way? I suspect he's had that conversation with the good people of the SDNY.