Michael Cohen to Settle Fee Dispute With Trump Organization
A trial in the lawsuit had been scheduled for Monday Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Donald Trump, arrived to be deposed by Trump lawyers in New York earlier this year. Photo: EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS By Corinne Ramey Updated July 21, 2023 2:46 pm ET Michael Cohen is settling his long-running dispute with the Trump Organization over legal bills, averting a trial that had been scheduled to begin next week. The agreement comes in a 2019 lawsuit filed by Cohen, the longtime lawyer for Donald Trump who argued that Trump’s family business was required to pay for Cohen’s legal representation during various investigations related to the former president, including those by special counsel Robert Mueller, several congressional committee
Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Donald Trump, arrived to be deposed by Trump lawyers in New York earlier this year.
Photo: EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS
Michael Cohen is settling his long-running dispute with the Trump Organization over legal bills, averting a trial that had been scheduled to begin next week.
The agreement comes in a 2019 lawsuit filed by Cohen, the longtime lawyer for Donald Trump who argued that Trump’s family business was required to pay for Cohen’s legal representation during various investigations related to the former president, including those by special counsel Robert Mueller, several congressional committees and the New York attorney general.
The terms of the settlement, which isn’t final, aren’t expected to be public. Cohen had been seeking about $1 million.
“Sounds like you are achingly close, so I am happy to postpone the trial,” State Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen said during a hearing Friday.
Michael Cohen said the matter “has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to all parties.” The Trump Organization declined to comment.
Cohen’s involvement with the Trump business dates to 2006, when he joined the Trump Organization as executive vice president and special counsel, handling issues related to licensing deals and real-estate projects. In early 2017, when Trump became president, Cohen resigned from the company to work as his personal attorney. He was subsequently entangled in several investigations, including by congressional committees and Mueller, who probed Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and alleged ties to Trump’s campaign.
Cohen said he entered into an agreement with the Trump Organization in 2017 in which the company agreed to pay his legal bills. Then, on April 9, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Cohen’s home and hotel room. He would eventually plead guilty to charges related to his business practices and for his role in paying hush money to a porn star who alleged a sexual encounter with Trump, a claim the former president denies.
That summer, Cohen says, after he publicly signaled his intention to cooperate with investigators, the Trump Organization stopped paying his legal bills.
The judge tossed Cohen’s case in 2021, but an appeals panel revived some of his claims last year.
Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected]
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