Do you want to summon Barbra? This is how you summon Barbra.
David Schwartz, a New York attorney who represented former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, has issued a takedown demand to the online magazine Wonkette and its host, Substack. He wants removed an ancient article titled "Michael Cohen's Lawyer David Schwartz Actually Worse At This Than Michael Cohen" that will be read today by more people than it has in the last 5 years.
The article dates to 2018 and, as its headline clearly indicates, details things Schwartz reportedly did that were not in the best interests of his client: "Well, we really didn't think there was a lawyer stupider than Michael Cohen. Turns out we were wrong!" wrote Liz Dye. The article is a bizarre read now—Cohen has since turned on Trump and helped prosecutors convict him on dozens of counts of fraud, but at the time was dining at Mar-a-Lago. Schwartz, absurdly and belatedly, now finds the article defamatory.
"Mr. Schwartz is the target of a false, defamatory, and harmful article on Wonkette," writes Star Kashman on his behalf, arguing that the article contravenes Substack's publisher agreement, which the perceptive reader might note is not actually the law. "Kindly remove the post from your platform within the next 30 days, establish protocols to ensure it does not get re-posted, and send us confirmation once it has been removed."
Wonkette responds with jocular contempt: "it is not our habit at this little Mommyblog to respond to performative dickwagging masquerading as a cease and desist letter," etc.
The letter does not specify which statements are false or defamatory. The statute of limitations for libel in New York is one year.
Quoting someone verbatim and then accusing him of "disgracing the legal profession" is a protected expression of opinion. And your client, who went on national television to discuss a pending criminal case, was clearly a public figure for the purposes of the Sullivan standard.
I had forgotten who Schwartz was and would never have read this article about his activities had he not sent an attorney after it. Now, of course, everyone is getting a refresher about moments such as this:
