In a new lawsuit, Trump alleges Michael Cohen is getting rich by trashing him — and he wants Cohen to cough up more than $500 million
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday filed a more than $500 million lawsuit in federal court against Michael Cohen, accusing his ex-lawyer-turned-nemesis of ruining his reputation by repeatedly "spreading falsehoods."
In the suit, Trump, through his lawyers, alleges that his former fixer Cohen breached his attorney-client relationship and profited off trashing the ex-president.
Cohen "breached his fiduciary duties owed to [Trump] by virtue of their attorney-client relationship by both revealing [Trump's] confidences, and spreading falsehoods about [Trump], likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct," says the suit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit alleges that Cohen "committed these breaches through myriad public statements, including the publication of two books, a podcast series, and innumerable mainstream media appearances" despite cease and desist letters.
Cohen, who has become one of Trump's harshest critics, "appears to have become emboldened and repeatedly continues to make wrongful and false statements about" Trump, the suit alleges.
It adds, "Plaintiff has suffered vast reputational harm as a direct result of Defendant's breaches."
Trump is demanding damages in the suit, and, according to the lawsuit, believes they should "substantially exceed" $500 million.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of Trump's historic indictment by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that Cohen was personally entangled with — Trump pleaded "not guilty" to the 34 counts filed against him.
Cohen previously said that while acting as Trump's personal attorney, he wired $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election to ensure she stayed quiet about a relationship she said she had with Trump. Trump has repeatedly and vehemently denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels and denied that he has committed any crimes in connection to the payment.
Cohen did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Wednesday.
