re: Stormy Daniels Offers to Return Payment to End Deal for Her Silence

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Cohen has been asking Trump to repay him for the hush money.

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Makes as much sense as trying to return crack.

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Basically. I'm assuming the lawyer was acting on his own.

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Well, my source is knowing Ms. Clifford personally. And while you can call her a lot of things, genius (legal or otherwise) is certainly not among them.

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Let’s start with this curious document entitled "Confidential Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release; Assignment of Copyright and Non-Disparagment (sic) Agreement.” Exhibits 1-2 in the lawsuit: Cohen created the shield company Essential Consultants LLC and adopted an anonymous identity to pay off Daniels. Indeed, the agreement protected “David Dennison” or “DD,” also known as Donald Trump. As for the other party, “PP,” she is “Peggy Peterson” aka Stormy Daniels, also known (legally) as Stephanie Clifford. The problem is that David Dennison aka DD aka Trump never signed the agreement. However, Cohen signing as EC LLC did execute the agreement.

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t is not clear whether Cohen honestly thought this incompetent and clumsy arrangement would work. If so, it falls in the same level of legal advice as telling a client, “If we keep our eyes shut, no one can see us.”
That does not mean that it will not be ruled binding on Daniels, who did accept $130,000 for the agreement. Daniels argues that Cohen himself nullified the agreement by speaking publicly, and that it was invalid due to Section 8.6, which states that the parties understand “this agreement, when signed by all parties, is a valid and binding agreement.”

Cohen reportedly complained that the delay in paying off Daniels was due to the fact that he could not reach Trump and later complained that Trump never reimbursed him. Those statements, if true, are hopelessly confused. If he needed to speak with Trump (and did not) his own admission could be used against him. Rule 1.4 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct require conferral and communication with a client on such agreements.
Moreover, if he did not have Trump's consent, his representations to Daniels would appear false and potentially fraudulent. If he expected reimbursement, his statements to the Federal Election Commission and others are factually and legally questionable. Rule 4.1 states, “In the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a third person.” Likewise, Rule 8.4(c) states that an attorney shall not “engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”

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