If he’s a lawyer and maintains an office in is home, as most do today, why would attorney-client privilege not apply?
>> If he’s a lawyer and maintains an office in is home, as most do today, why would attorney-client privilege not apply? <<
Good point!
If he’s still a member of the bar in good standing, AND if he is acting formally as an attorney-at-law for a specific client, then the privilege would apply.
But it’s not enough just to be a lawyer. He must be acting officially in that capacity. For example, if your CPA has a law degree but is merely handling your routine tax filing, rather than his having been engaged formally by you as your attorney-at-law, then there is no attorney-client privilege if you get indicted over some criminal violation of the tax code. In such a case, your CPA-law-degree can be forced to provide info against you.
Or take the case of the extreme leftwing lawyer woman whose client was the imprisoned “blind sheik” in New York. She was illegally helping him communicate with his outside supporters. When she got caught, she tried to invoke attorney-client privilege. But the courts wouldn’t take the bait, and she ended up in prison herself.
In Manaforte’s case, he may have labeled some documents in such a way as to argue that his lobbying for foreign government clients was merely an aspect of his legal practice. Then the matter(s) might be litigated in federal court as to which items can be submitted in evidence. But given his failure to register properly as an agent for foreign interests, I gotta doubt that a federal judge or magistrate will cut him any slack.