Donald Trump has initiated a lawsuit against his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, demanding $500 million in damages. According to a source familiar with Trump’s legal team, the lawsuit has no connection to the case brought by Manhattan DA. The lawsuit will include a trial for compensatory, incidental, actual, and punitive losses.
The lawsuit states, “This is an action arising from [Cohen’s] multiple breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion and breaches of contract by virtue of [Cohen’s] past service as [Trump’s] employee and attorney.”
Fox News reported,
The lawsuit alleges Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship by “spreading falsehoods” about Trump that were “likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct,” while also breaching contractual terms of a confidentiality agreement he signed as a condition of employment with Trump.
The lawsuit alleges Cohen spread falsehoods about Trump “with malicious intent and to wholly self-serving ends.”
The lawsuit details Cohen’s “myriad of public statements, including the publication of two books, a podcast series, and innumerable mainstream media appearances,” while ignoring “cease and desist” orders.
For more than ten years, Trump and Cohen maintained a complicated relationship. Cohen served as Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, managing many confidential issues on his behalf.
In early 2018, the relationship between Cohen and Trump became strained after the FBI conducted a raid on Cohen’s office, home, and hotel room as part of an investigation into his business dealings. Cohen eventually pleaded guilty to several crimes, including campaign finance violations related to payments he made to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.
In his plea, Cohen claimed that he was instructed by Trump to make the payments as part of the scheme. Trump, however, has refuted these accusations and accused Cohen of lying in order to mitigate his punishment.
After Cohen provided information about Trump’s business practices and personal life to prosecutors, their relationship went downhill. Trump has since referred to Cohen as a “rat” and a “liar,” discrediting his testimony as unreliable.