Cohen files lawsuit against Trump Organization

by John Bowden - 03/07/19 1:02 PM ET

President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen on Thursday sued the Trump Organization in a Manhattan court, accusing the company of breaching a contract that ensured Cohen’s legal expenses related to the ongoing special counsel investigation would be paid.

Bloomberg News reports that court documents filed by Cohen state that the Trump Organization ceased payments to Cohen’s legal defense effort in 2018, which he calls a breach of his contract. Cohen is reportedly seeking $1.9 million in disputed legal fees.

{mosads}“The Trump Organization agreed 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,” the court filings reportedly read. “These matters included multiple congressional hearings, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and others.”

The lawsuit comes just days after the former attorney trashed the president in a public hearing in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, during which Cohen accused Trump of being a “racist” and a “con man” and accused him of financial misconduct including improperly overestimating the value of properties to insurance companies.

Cohen is awaiting the start of a three-year prison sentence for financial crimes and charges related to his hush money payments to women in 2016 who threatened to come forward and detail alleged past affairs with then-candidate Trump.

Cohen was back on Capitol Hill this week for closed-door testimony with congressional investigators, after which he pledged to continue cooperating.

“I told [lawmakers] that any additional information that they would want, they should feel comfortable to reach out to my counsel and I would continue to cooperate to the fullest extent of my capabilities,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

During his testimony, Cohen reportedly provided lawmakers with new documents related to previous comments, including items related to the Trump Tower Moscow project.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) praised Cohen’s testimony as “enormously productive.”

“He answered every question that was put to him by members of both parties. He was fully cooperative with the committee,” Schiff told reporters on Wednesday. “We had requested documents of Mr. Cohen. He has provided additional documents to the committee.”

There “may be additional documents that he still has to offer, and his cooperation with our committee continues,” Schiff added.

–Updated at 1:16 p.m.

Tags Adam Schiff Cohen testimony Donald Trump Lawsuit legal fees Michael Cohen The Trump Organization