Cohen Sues Trump: You Owe Me for My Legal Bills

Former fixer says Trump Organization broke contract to cover his expenses
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 7, 2019 1:01 PM CST
Cohen Sues Trump's Business Over His Legal Bills
Michael Cohen returns to Capitol Hill for a fourth day of testimony on Wednesday, March 6.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Michael Cohen has gone from being a Trump loyalist to a Trump enemy, and he wants the Trump Organization to cover the legal fees he incurred during that transition. Cohen filed suit Thursday against the president's business, accusing it of violating an agreement to cover legal expenses related to his Trump work, reports Bloomberg. The lawsuit says the Trump Organization and Cohen struck that deal in July 2017, back when Cohen was working as Trump's "fixer," and it was reaffirmed in May 2018, reports Axios. However, Cohen began talking about cooperating with Robert Mueller in June, and that's when the Trump Organization stopped paying his legal bills, according to the suit. Cohen has since racked up in excess of $1.9 million in legal fees, and he wants reimbursement.

In addition to that $1.9 million, Cohen also wants another $1.9 million to cover the fines and restitution he has had to pay as part of his legal troubles, reports the New York Times. In the legalese of the suit, Cohen accuses the organization of "failure to meet its indemnification obligations." Cohen reports to prison in May to begin serving a three-year sentence for charges that include lying to Congress. He also has been testifying against Trump before various congressional panels, and those expenses are part of the lawsuit. (Cohen says he never sought a pardon from Trump, but his attorney has a more nuanced view on that.)

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