Michael Cohen, Trump Organization Settle His $1.3M Lawsuit
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Michael Cohen, the former Trump lawyer turned ferocious critic, has settled his lawsuit seeking $1.3 million in legal fees from the Trump Organization, Cohen and a company source confirmed to NBC News.
Attorneys for Cohen and the Trump company were in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Friday working out the final terms of the deal, which were not disclosed.
“This matter has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties,” Cohen said in a statement.
The Trump Organization declined comment.
The agreement comes just before the case was scheduled to go to trial. Opening arguments were set to start Monday, and witnesses including Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Organization executive vice president Alan Garten were set to testify.
Jury selection had already been completed, with a panel of six men and three women set to hear the case.
Cohen filed the lawsuit in 2019 accusing the Trump Organization of reneging on a contractual deal 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 and its principals, directors, and officers," including Donald Trump.
"These matters included multiple congressional hearings, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and others. As a result of the Trump Organization’s unfounded refusal to meet its indemnification obligations under the indemnification agreement, Mr. Cohen has incurred millions of dollars in unreimbursed attorneys’ fees and costs, plus additional indemnifiable amounts," the suit said.
The suit said the company paid his fees through May 2018, but stopped doing so after reports that he was cooperating with Mueller's investigation.
His testimony before Congress in 2019 about Trump and his company's business practices led to an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office that resulted in a criminal conviction against the company last year.
Trump filed lawsuit against Cohen in federal court in Florida earlier this year, seeking more than $500 million in damages. He alleged that Cohen violated their attorney-client relationship by publicly disclosing information about him, “spreading falsehoods about (Trump), likely to be embarrassing or detrimental" and causing him "vast reputational harm."
An attorney for Cohen — who is expected to be a key witness in the Manhattan DA's pending criminal case against the former US president — accused Trump of “using and abusing the judicial system as a form of harassment and intimidation” against his client.
“It appears he is terrified by his looming legal perils and is attempting to send a message to other potential witnesses who are cooperating with prosecutors against him,” the attorney, Lanny Davis, said in a statement in April. “Mr. Cohen will not be deterred and is confident that the suit will fail based on the facts and the law.”