A New York State court in Manhattan held Friday that the Trump Organization does not need to pay millions of dollars in legal bills to Trump’s former fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen.

In March 2019, Cohen filed a lawsuit against the Trump Organization, claiming that the Organization owed him at least $1.9 million in legal fees and an additional $1.9 million that Cohen had to forfeit when he was sentenced to prison. Cohen argued that the Trump Organization breached their contract with him because the Organization had promised to cover his legal bills and any costs incurred by Cohen in connection to the lawsuits arising from his work with the Organization. The lawsuit claims that the “Trump Organization agreed to indemnify Mr. Cohen and to pay attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by Mr. Cohen in connection with various matters arising from Mr. Cohen’s work with and on behalf of the Organization.”

New York Judge Joel M. Cohen rejected Cohen’s breach of contract lawsuit against the Trump Organization, concluding that Cohen’s claim was unfounded. The judge reasoned that “Mr. Cohen’s legal fees [arose] out of his (sometimes unlawful) service to Mr. Trump personally, to Mr. Trump’s campaign, and to the Trump Foundation, but not out of his service to the business of the Trump Organization, which is the only defendant in this case.” 

Cohen told reporters that he and his counsel were taking the weekend to decide whether to appeal the “terrible decision” by the court.