Donald Trump has sued Michael Cohen, a key witness in the “hush money” case brought against the former president by Manhattan prosecutors, for $500mn, alleging that his former attorney breached his contract and confidentiality agreements.
The lawsuit, filed in the southern district of Florida, comes weeks after Cohen testified before a grand jury in New York about the $130,000 he paid to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels — who claimed she had an affair with Trump — in the days before the 2016 election.
The recording of Trump’s alleged reimbursements to Cohen, in 2017, are at the core of the 34 felony charges brought against the former president by the Manhattan district attorney last month.
Trump’s lawyers said that Cohen breached his contract with his former client “through myriad public statements, including the publication of two books, a podcast series, and innumerable mainstream media appearances”.