Michael Cohen filed a motion asking a federal court to dismiss Donald Trump's $500 million lawsuit against him, arguing that it was an improper attempt to intimidate witnesses.
This was after Trump was charged for making hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in New York. Notably, the prosecution plans to use Cohen as its star witness.
Unethical Effort to Silence a Key Witness
In Cohen's petition, it was asserted that Trump had sued Cohen for vengeance since he had waited years to file suit until he was charged by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg last month.
According to The Guardian, the hush money issue is specifically referenced in Trump's complaint against Cohen. There, Cohen is accused of disseminating false information about Trump and breaking contractual commitments via his public remarks.
Cohen's attorneys said in a 35-page document submitted to a federal court in Florida that the lawsuit was "yet another brazen and indeed unlawful attempt to intimidate and silence a key witness against Mr. Trump."
They added, "Mr. Trump's campaign of retaliation should be shut down."
Since the lawsuit was not an effort to directly influence Cohen's testimony, and since Cohen is unlikely to alter course, his claim that Trump was engaged in witness tampering against him may encounter difficulties under New York state law. However, Trump has a history of filing frivolous lawsuits against those he views as political opponents.
Meanwhile, a source close to Trump said that the lawsuit against Cohen was something he had intended to do for weeks. This was even before Cohen testified against him before the Manhattan grand jury and made appearances on cable news to talk about the hush money issue.
Request for Case Dismissal
Disloyal, Cohen's tell-all book about the hush money scam, was released in 2018; therefore, most of the breach of fiduciary responsibility accusations were time-barred and must be dismissed, as stated by Cohen's attorneys.
Claims that Cohen broke other agreements should also be dismissed, the statement said, since they did not detail any explicit violations of the confidentiality agreement. Apparently, it was invalid because of its ambiguity.
Moreover, Cohen's attorneys contended that Trump's assertions of Cohen engaging in unjust enrichment by releasing Trump's private data should be rejected because Trump failed to establish an actual claim. This is confusing since Trump has said both that the disclosures are true and that they are not.
The Hush Money Scandal
Multiple sources close to Trump have said that for months, Trump has blamed Cohen for his legal issues with the Manhattan district attorney's office. He even implied on Fox News that Cohen had been attempting to ingratiate himself to him by orchestrating hush money payments to Daniels.
The issue revolves around a disputed $130,000 payment made by Trump to Daniels through Cohen in the latter days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Prosecutors alleged fraud in accounting when Trump compensated Cohen with $35,000 checks from his own funds to pay legal fees.
