Michael Cohen Creates More Legal Problems for Donald Trump
Facing four criminal indictments, each with multiple charges against him, it is fair to say that former President Donald Trump is having a tough time legally.
However, his legal headache could soon get worse, as Michael Cohen has announced he is bringing a complaint against the former president.
Speaking on the podcast Political Beatdown, which he co-hosts with Ben Meiselas, Trump’s former lawyer, who is a key witness in Trump’s civil fraud trial, was asked about “big news” he was breaking about a complaint against the former president in response to his dismissed lawsuit against Cohen.
Trump dropped his $500m lawsuit against Cohen, which he had filed in May after he was indicted in New York over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
He had accused his former fixer of “spreading falsehoods” “with malicious intent” and causing “vast reputational harm” for talking publicly about hush-money payments made to women during Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Cohen, who asked the judge to dismiss the case, saying it was an unlawful attempt to engage in witness intimidation, served jail time after pleading guilty in 2018 to charges related to hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Trump has not waived his right to sue Cohen. On the podcast, Meiselas addressed Cohen, saying: “You are currently preparing a complaint against [Trump] for his malicious prosecution and the damages that he caused you.”
Cohen replied: “That is correct and as soon as we finish that complaint… I will read off parts of it to you to hold him accountable. If he’s not held accountable, why would he ever stop?”
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Trump and Cohen by email to comment on this story.
Since becoming a witness in the civil fraud trial—which seeks to determine how much in damages Trump should pay for inflating the value of his assets to get more favorable business loans for the Trump Organization, a charge Trump denies—there has been no love lost between Cohen and his former boss.
In a recent interview with Good Morning Britain‘s North America correspondent Noel Phillips, Cohen said he’d “leave the country” if Trump, who is the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, is re-elected.
In previous comments, made on several occasions, Cohen has described Trump as a cheat, liar, fraud, racist, predator and conman. In response, the former president has called him a rat, liar and a stone cold loser.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.