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Former US President Donald Trump accuses Cohen, a key witness in his criminal case, of breaking a confidentiality agreement he signed with him. A lawsuit in which he points out that he violated ethical standards for lawyers and spread “falsehoods with malicious intent and for wholly self-serving purposes.”
Former President Donald Trump has sued the key witness in his criminal case. According to the magnate, the accused, Michael Cohen, caused “great damage to his reputation” by expressing in public about hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, the center of a case against the former president.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami and offered a preview of the arguments likely to emerge in Trump’s defense against allegations that he falsified internal business records to disguise payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly silence allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. .
Trump accused Cohen of “multiple breaches” in the attorney-client relationship and illicit enrichment, among other things.
Although the Republican leader is not suing Cohen over his grand jury testimony in the criminal case against him, he argues that his former lawyer sought to profit from his role through the publication of two books, a podcast series and appearances in the media.
“Such continuing and escalating misconduct has reached a proverbial crescendo and has left no alternative but to seek legal redress through this action,” the text of the lawsuit cites.
Therefore, Trump claims compensation for 500 million dollars.
Attorney Lanny Davis, a spokesman for Cohen, said the lawsuit will not deter Cohen’s cooperation with prosecutors in the landmark case against Trump. One that marked a milestone in the history of the United States by being the first former president to be formally charged in a criminal case.
“Mr. Trump appears to be once again using and abusing the judicial system as a form of harassment and intimidation against Michael Cohen,” Davis said. “He appears to be terrified of his imminent legal dangers and is trying to send a message to other potential witnesses that they are cooperating with prosecutors against him,” he added.
But Trump has bad experiences in court. Last January, a Florida judge sanctioned him and one of his lawyers, ordering them to pay nearly $1 million for filing a bogus lawsuit against Hillary Clinton—Trump’s rival in the 2016 presidential race—and others.
According to Davis, this lawsuit will also fail. “Is there anyone in America, aside from a shrinking minority base of believers, who takes Mr. Trump seriously when he files these seemingly frivolous lawsuits?” Davis asked.
Michael Cohen, the ‘mea culpa’of a loyal squire
Cohen and Trump began their relationship in 2006, after the lawyer defended the magnate at a community meeting of the owners of one of his farms. Cohen started working for the Trump Organization, where he became quite influential.
He actively participated in the preparation of the image of the millionaire for the 2016 presidential campaign. A few days before the elections, Cohen learned that Daniels intended to give an exclusive on the alleged extramarital affair he had with Trump. According to him, he agreed to a hush payment with Daniels’ attorney in a California parking lot and paid the money out of his own pocket to speed things up.
Once Trump reached the White House, the attorney continued to work at a prestigious law firm and boast as the president’s personal attorney.
Cohen’s fortunes changed in January 2018 when a complaint from Common Cause, an accountability group, led Daniels’ hush pay to the federal election board, arguing that the lawyer violated campaign finance regulations. of Trump.
Initially, Cohen defended Trump and even took responsibility in front of Congress. The FBI raided his home in April of that year and Cohen’s pilgrimage to the courthouse began. Trump supported him until he stopped funding the lawyer’s defense.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to arranging those secret payments., among other federal charges, against Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. In addition, he went against his former boss, assuring that Trump led him, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison.”I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty actions,” he declared before the judges.
The lawyer spent 13 months in prison and a year at home in prison, where he wrote a memoir and launched a podcast titled ‘Mea Culpa’, where he recounted details of the case and further implicated Trump.
The criminal case against Trump, filed last week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accuses the former president of falsifying 34 business records for his company to hide the true purpose of 11 checks paid to Cohen to pay for his cover-up work. alleged extramarital affairs.
The checks, according to prosecutors, reimbursed Cohen for a $130,000 payment he made on Trump’s behalf to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen was also involved in arranging payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal and a Trump Tower doorman.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says the alleged meetings with Daniels and McDougal never happened.
With AP and EFE
