Donald Trump dropped his $500 million lawsuit against his ex-legal fixer Michael Cohen for allegedly having “spread falsehoods” about the former president — including a purported “hush money” payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump attorney Alejandro Brito asked for the suit to be dismissed without prejudice in a late Thursday court filing, just six months after the 77-year-old accused Cohen of breaking a confidentiality agreement between the two.
Brito did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cohen’s lawyers also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cohen emerged as a star witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation of Trump earlier this year for allegedly falsifying records to conceal a $130,000 payment made through the lawyer to Daniels.
Cohen testified about his former boss several times before a grand jury, which eventually returned an indictment charging Trump with 34 counts of business fraud.
Cohen maintains that he made the payment on Trump’s behalf to keep Daniels quiet about a decade-old affair the real estate mogul had with the adult film star. (Trump has denied having sexual relations with Daniels or ordering the payment.)
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal election law by making the payment to allegedly buy Daniels’ silence — and was sentenced to three years in prison that were mostly spent in home confinement.
Trump’s lawsuit claimed Cohen breached attorney-client privilege by “spreading falsehoods … likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct” in violation of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.
Those breaches came through public statements, books, a podcast series and “innumerable mainstream media appearances,” the suit alleges, for which the former president has “suffered vast reputational harm as a direct result.”
Trump sought “compensatory, incidental, and punitive damages,” which were “expected to substantially exceed” $500 million, as well as “profits, payments, compensations, advances, royalties” and other proceeds Cohen receives from his books and podcast.
The former president’s team also wrote that Cohen “misrepresented a business expenditure, and stated that he was owed an extra $74,000,” which they had asked to be returned with interest.
Trump asked for the Manhattan indictment to be dismissed on Thursday, saying the matter amounted to “interfering” with his 2024 presidential campaign.
The former president pleaded not guilty to all charges in April. A trial date is set for March 25, 2024.
Cohen worked as legal counsel for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2018, but broke with his former boss and sued the company the following year over its failure to reimburse legal fees.