Former US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against his former lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, for over $500 million, as per the filing in a Florida court on Wednesday. The lawsuit alleges that Cohen violated his attorney-client relationship with Trump by disclosing confidential information and spreading falsehoods about him.
Once one of Trump’s most trusted advisors, Cohen testified before a Manhattan grand jury that later indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. This marked the first time in US history that a former president had been charged with a crime. Trump, currently seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
In the lawsuit, Trump accuses Cohen of violating the confidentiality agreement by revealing Trump’s secrets to the public. The filing also claims that Cohen has caused significant harm to Trump’s personal and professional reputation by spreading falsehoods about him. The lawsuit seeks damages of more than $500 million from Cohen.
Cohen has not yet commented on the lawsuit. He had previously been sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress about his involvement in the Trump organization’s business dealings in Russia. However, he was released early in 2020 due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
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Trump and Cohen’s relationship had soured in recent years, with Cohen publicly denouncing Trump’s leadership and policies after leaving the Trump organization. However, the two were once close, with Cohen previously referring to himself as Trump’s “fixer” and helping to broker deals for the former president’s businesses.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles involving Trump and his associates. Trump also faces several other investigations into his business dealings, including a criminal probe by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into possible tax and insurance fraud. The former president denied wrongdoing and called the investigations politically motivated.