Former President Donald Trump has filed a $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, alleging a breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion, and breach of contract. In this lawsuit, the former president claims that Cohen spread falsehoods with malicious intent and self-serving ends that caused reputational harm. The former president’s legal team filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in 2018 to arranging hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the 2016 presidential election. In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York chose not to charge Trump with regard to the hush money payments, and the Federal Election Commission dropped the case in 2021.
The Lawsuit
Donald Trump’s legal team filed a lawsuit for over 30 pages in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida against his former attorney Michael Cohen for over $500 million. The lawsuit alleges Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship with Trump by “spreading falsehoods” 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 claims Cohen has “become emboldened and repeatedly continues to make wrongful and false statements” about Trump through various platforms, such as books, podcasts, and appearances on mainstream media, ignoring cease and desist orders.
Cohen’s Wrongful Conduct
The lawsuit accuses Michael Cohen of increasing the frequency and hostility of the illicit acts, and that his continuous and escalating improper conduct has reached a crescendo, leaving Donald Trump with no alternative but to seek legal redress through this action. The lawsuit further claims that Cohen’s misconduct was made with malicious intent and to wholly self-serving ends, causing vast reputational harm to Trump as a direct result of Cohen’s breaches.
Cohen’s Role While Working for Trump
Donald Trump’s lawsuit details Michael Cohen’s employment as counsel for the Trump Organization, beginning in 2006, and past statements Cohen made about his role working for Trump. Cohen described his job as “very surreal,” claiming he had “been admiring Donald Trump since high school,” and praised Trump as a “wonderful man” who would be “an amazing president.”
He described his own role as the one “who protects the President and the family,” and strongly stated that he “would take a bullet” for Trump. The lawsuit states that Cohen was among other innumerable positive statements made by Cohen about Trump and his role as Trump’s attorney.
Cohen’s Response to the Lawsuit
Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, responded to the lawsuit, calling it an abuse of the judicial system and harassment against his client, saying that Trump is using the legal system to intimidate him. Davis said that Cohen will not be deterred and is confident that the suit will fail based on the facts and the law. Davis added, “Is there anyone in America, aside from a shrinking minority base of believers, who takes Mr. Trump seriously when he files these lawsuits?”
Donald Trump’s lawsuit against his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for over $500 million, alleges a breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion, and breach of contract. Trump’s legal team claims Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship with Trump by spreading falsehoods and engaging in other misconduct, causing vast reputational harm to Trump.
