donald trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Wednesday, a week after the former president was charged with secret money payment Cohen facilitated porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump on 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records and may be a key witness in the criminal trial. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, has denied his involvement in the scheme.
In the lawsuit, Trump alleges that Cohen violated attorney-client privilege by sharing confidential information and spreading lies about him “with evil intent and for utterly selfish ends.”
“Plaintiff has suffered great damage to his reputation as a direct result of defendant’s breaches,” the court said. lawsuit filed by Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit claims that the “most egregious violations of fiduciary duty” involve two books written by Cohen, his podcast, and other public statements about Trump.
“Respondent obtained a significant benefit, to Claimant’s detriment and Claimant’s expense.
expense, as a direct result of your breach of fiduciary duty, including, but not limited to, the realization of substantial monetary gain in the form of compensation, advances, royalties, profits, and/or earnings received for your role in writing, publishing, promoting, and/or sale of the Books,” the lawsuit says.
Trump is seeking more than $500 million in “actual, compensatory, incidental, and punitive damages” from Cohen, and any profit he made through his books and podcast.
Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, predicted that Trump’s lawsuit would fail. In a statement, the lawyer characterized the lawsuit as an effort by Trump “to send a message to other potential witnesses who are cooperating with prosecutors against him.”
Cohen, who arranged the bribery of Daniels and served time in prison for campaign finance violations, has vowed to continue fighting for the truth.
“Despite Trump’s attempts to intimidate and harass me, I will NEVER stop fighting and holding him accountable for his dirty deeds,” Cohen wrote on Twitter Wednesday, linking to a GoFundMe page raising money for his legal defense.
manhattan prosecutors alleged Cohen handled three hush money payments to Trump involving Daniels, model Karen McDougal and a former Trump Tower porter who claimed Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.
Trump has a long history of attacking perceived enemies in court. Earlier this year, a Florida judge ordered Trump and his attorney Alina Habba to pay just under $1 million. for filing a “completely frivolous” lawsuit against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other defendants.
