Donald Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen on Wednesday, alleging he violated attorney-client privilege in his evolution from loyal fixer to turncoat witness.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami comes just a week after Trump was charged with 34 felonies related to checks issued to Cohen as reimbursement for a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen, who went to federal prison for the payment, has cooperated heavily in the case and is expected to be the star witness at trial.
Trump’s suit lists five causes of action, accusing Cohen of committing an “onslaught of fiduciary and contractual breaches” in publishing two books, producing a podcast, and giving media interviews about paying off Daniels at Trump’s behest.
Cohen’s “wrongful actions were intentional, calculated, malicious, and motivated by his desire to acquire fame, attention, notoriety, and wealth,” alleges the lawsuit.
The suit doubles down on Trump’s claim he was innocent of wrongdoing in the hush money deal because he relied on Cohen’s legal advice and that Cohen made the illicit payment out of a personal desire “to protect his family from the malicious and false claims” by Daniels.
It accuses Cohen of profiting off Trump’s woes and details how Cohen went from Trump’s biggest fan in high school to a central figure in the criminal case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“Among other innumerable positive statements made by (Cohen) about (Trump) and his role as (Trump’s) attorney, (Cohen) described his job as ‘very surreal,’ claiming he had ‘been admiring Donald Trump since ... high school,’” reads an excerpt of the lawsuit.
“(Cohen) viewed (Trump) as a ‘wonderful man’ who would be ‘an amazing president,’ and someone (Cohen) thought ‘the world’ of as ‘a businessman’ and ‘a boss.’”
Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign violations and other crimes in August 2018, with him and the feds directly implicating then-President Trump in the hush money case, where he’s referred to as “Individual 1.” Cohen started talking to state investigators, who were separately probing the deal, from prison and continued cooperating when he was released to home confinement at his Trump Park Ave family residence.
In a statement, Cohen’s lawyer Lanny David brushed off the lawsuit as frivolous and said Trump was trying to scare off other people from cooperating against him.
“Mr. Trump appears once again to be using and abusing the judicial system as a form of harassment and intimidation against Michael Cohen. It appears he is terrified by his looming legal perils and is attempting to send a message to other potential witnesses who are cooperating with prosecutors against him,” Davis said.
“Mr. Cohen will not be deterred and is confident that the suit will fail based on the facts and the law.”
An attorney representing Trump in the matter, Alejandro Brito, did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
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