Michael Cohen, Trump's ex-lawyer, sued for breach of contract

A lawsuit has been filed by former President Donald Trump against his former attorney Michael Cohen alleging that he violated the attorney-client bond and spread a number of "embarrassing or detrimental" lies about him.

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The suit filed in federal court in Miami alleges that Cohen violated the terms of a non-disclosure agreement he had with Trump and fraudulently misrepresent a $74,000 business expenditure as a result of a falling out between the two men that has resulted in exchanges of insults between them.

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As a result of the public statements made by Cohen, last week the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on criminal charges for alleged financial crimes and the New York Attorney General announced a $250 million civil fraud suit against Trump for alleged fraud. As a result of Cohen's guilty plea, he is now one of Trump's most vehement critics, and he has pleaded guilty to crimes such as campaign finance violations and bank fraud.

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As a result of Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis' accusations of corruption and mistreatment of the judicial system, Davis alleges that the former president has been trying to harass and intimidate Cohen.

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Rather than showing repression, Davis said Trump is trying to send a message to other potential witnesses who are cooperating with prosecutors against him by attempting to send them a message that he is terrified of his looming legal peril. Apart from a shrinking minority of believers in America, I ask, “Is anybody in America serious when Donald Trump files these frivolous lawsuits? Who takes Donald Trump seriously when he files them?”

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There is no doubt Trump has a long history of suing his accusers, however, his track record in Florida hasn’t been the best. It was determined by a judge that the former president and his lawyer would receive a fine of almost $1 million for bringing frivolous and unfounded claims against Hillary Clinton and dozens of other Democrats during the 2016 election, accusing them of conspiring against him with false claims of Russian collusion. According to Trump, that ruling was appealed.

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The suit Trump is filing against Cohen alleges that Cohen has committed a number of violations including releasing two books, launching a podcast series, and appearing in a number of mainstream media outlets over the course of a period of time.

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According to Cohen's complaint, he is suing due to what he says is a series of wrongdoings and lies about Trump that is all too prevalent in one of Cohen's books, entitled Disloyal. Cohen's popular podcast is also highlighted in the old president's lawsuit.

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A lawsuit states that defendant repeatedly and consistently discloses confidential information gleaned as a result of his previous attorney-client relationship with plaintiff, or he purports to have revealed, or purports to have disclosed, in the more than 250 episodes of the podcast to date. As well as information about plaintiff's personal and private life, the suit claims.

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According to Trump, Cohen tried to disclose any secret information he had about Trump's business affairs and personal life, regardless of whether his employment with the Trump Organization had ended. Cohen was also accused by Trump of violating a confidentiality agreement.

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It appears that the lawyer made inflammatory remarks about Trump, not long after the apparent parting of the ways between Trump and Cohen in 2018, which has led to an onslaught of fiduciary and contractual breaches.

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Litigation for damages

It appears that Trump is suing for $500 million in damages in addition to the $74,000 Cohen allegedly obtained through fraudulent misrepresentation as well, according to the suit. According to the complaint, Cohen billed the Trump Organization for a larger amount than the $13,000 he was billed to rig online polling prior to Trump's first presidential run. This section of Cohen's book is mentioned in the complaint.

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In the years after Trump was elected president in 2016 Cohen released information about the hush-money payment a law firm made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election that was worth $130,000. The lawyer paid Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. According to the Manhattan indictment, Trump falsified business records in order to conceal the payments he reimbursed Cohen for.

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A law firm representing Trump has incorporated statements made by another lawyer, Robert Costello, in his suit against Cohen, after Cohen's office was raided by FBI agents in 2018. Robert Costello spoke with Cohen in detail after the raid in 2018. According to Costello, who testified in a grand jury hearing in Manhattan, Cohen's claims of hush-money payment were cast in doubt. According to Costello, Cohen told him in 2018 that he had nothing to do with Trump, and he thought the Daniels payment was his idea. According to Trump's complaint, the Trump Organization did not reimburse Trump for the payment, which was intended to protect Melania Trump from being hurt.

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A lawsuit filed by President Trump alleges that his lawyer, Leonard Costello, has, in addition to completely discrediting any subsequent accounts cited by Defendant contending that Plaintiff was involved in any violations of law surrounding the payment. “Costello called Cohen a serial liar and a total unreliable witness,” Trump wrote in his lawsuit.

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A three-year investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James began after Cohen testified in Congress about alleged financial wrongdoing at the Trump Organization. That investigation culminated in a $250 million civil suit that will go to trial in October, the culmination of a three-year investigation. 

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There is a legal case in the Southern District of Florida known as Trump v. Cohen, 23-cv-21377, brought by the US District Court in Miami (Miami).