Former President Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit Wednesday against former attorney and self-described “fixer” Michael Cohen, alleging breach of the attorney-client relationship among other allegations.
The 30-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, accuses Cohen of “multiple breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion and breaches of contract by virtue of past service as [Trump’s] employee and attorney.”
It alleges Cohen spread “falsehoods” with “malicious intent” about Trump that were “likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct.”
The lawsuit comes just over a week after Trump was arraigned on 34 felony counts in Manhattan criminal court related to business fraud in several hush money payments ahead of the 2016 Presidential election.
Cohen, who met with Manhattan prosecutors and the Manhattan grand jury numerous times ahead of Trump’s indictment, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal crimes and served prison time for his role in a payoff of $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleges having had an affair with Trump years earlier.
The payment was a campaign contribution violation during the 2016 election cycle in service of the Trump campaign, and the $130,000 to keep Daniels quiet exceeded the federal limit.
Cohen has claimed that he paid the hush money out of his own personal funds, then was reimbursed by the Trump Organization and was also paid extra bonuses for a total that eventually rose to $420,000.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has asserted that Trump made 34 false statements “to cover up other crimes,” which he said were “felonies” under New York State law.
Trump’s lawsuit against Cohen alleges that the attorney “unlawfully converted [Trump’s] business property when he fraudulently misrepresented a business expenditure and stated that he was owed an extra $74,000 over the true amount of the expenditure.”
Cohen, the lawsuit states, “was reimbursed based on the fraudulent misrepresentation, and accordingly converted $74,000” from Trump.
The lawsuit further cites Cohen’s book, “Disloyal,” in which he admits he “‘lied’ about the money he was owed in reimbursement for an expense he made on [Trump’s] behalf, instead ‘loading up’ and ‘sneakily upping [his] bonus’ in order to ‘counter screw’ [Trump].”
