Former US President Donald Trump Wednesday sued his former attorney Michael Cohen for $500 million.
Trump’s complaint alleged that he suffered “vast reputational harm” due to Cohen’s “multiple breaches of fiduciary duty.” Trump also alleged that Cohen made “innumerable positive statements” about Trump, followed by disparaging statements in Cohen’s book Disloyal. One passage from Cohen’s book reveals that Cohen “lied about the amount of money he was owed in reimbursement for an expense he made on Trump’s behalf” and was “sneakily upping his bonus in order to ‘counter screw’ Trump.”
The complaint alleged that Cohen violated fiduciary duties imposed by the New York Rules of Professional Conduct 1.5, 1.6, 1.9 and 8.4. Cohen pleaded guilty to tax fraud and violating campaign finance laws in 2018 for his role in making a $130,000 payment to actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. Cohen told Reuters he expected attacks from Trump and his allies, saying “it’s all part of the playbook.”
District Attorney for New York County Alvin Bragg and Trump’s current prosecutor sued Jim Jordan and the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives on April 11. Bragg alleged that Jordan and the committee are engaging in a campaign of “intimidation, retaliation, and obstruction” by investigating Bragg’s investigation into former president Trump. In a letter, Jordan alleged that Bragg engaged in an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority” by indicting Trump. Jordan noted that Bragg’s “star witness” was Michael Cohen and described Cohen as a “convicted perjurer with demonstrable prejudice against President Trump.” Jordan noted that Cohen has a record of lying both to the House Oversight Committee and Congress.