Michael Cohen settles lawsuit against Trump Organization over unpaid legal bills

NEW YORK — Michael Cohen reached a settlement with the Trump Organization over unpaid legal bills he accrued during investigations into the former president, scuttling a trial over the matter that was slated to start Monday in New York state court.

Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, filed the lawsuit in 2019, claiming that his former employer owed him millions of dollars in unpaid legal and court fees. Cohen alleged that the Trump Organization stopped paying his legal bills after he publicly agreed to cooperate in a federal investigation into Trump.

Cohen said his unpaid legal fees exceeded $1.9 million.

A spokesperson for the court confirmed the existence of the settlement and said the trial had been adjourned. He said he couldn’t provide details of the settlement.

A lawyer for Cohen, Lauren Handelsman, said, “The matter has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties.”

A lawyer for the Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has since sued Cohen, alleging Cohen violated attorney-client confidentiality agreements through Cohen’s book, media appearances and podcast discussions. The former president is seeking $500 million in damages.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal tax evasion and campaign finance violations, admitting in Manhattan federal court that, at Trump’s direction, Cohen paid hush money to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence her claims of having had an affair with Trump.

Cohen is now a key witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against the former president, which centers on the same conduct concerning the payment to Daniels and Trump’s reimbursement of that money to Cohen. That case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2024.