Former President Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer asked his Twitter followers to donate to a GoFundMe campaign to support his legal fight against a lawsuit from Mr. Trump that claims he breached contractual duties related to their business and legal relationship.
“Donald and acolytes continue to disparage me as a way of deflection from his looming legal troubles,” Michael Cohen wrote Thursday, a day after Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against him was filed in federal court.
“I will not be deterred from continuing speaking truth to power. I need your help to do so,” Cohen wrote while providing a link to the crowdfunding campaign.
“Michael Cohen’s American Patriot Legal Firewall” has raised more than $20,000 toward its $100,000 goal by Thursday afternoon.
The former president sued his ex-lawyer for more than $500 million on Wednesday, saying he breached their contractual relationship and helped to spread falsehoods about Mr. Trump in a criminal prosecution in New York.
Mr. Trump’s attorneys argued in their federal court filing in the Southern District of Florida that Cohen published his first book, “Disloyal,” just before the 2020 election in an attempt to gain financially from the timing.
They also argue he went on to publish another book and launch a podcast, focused on his previous relationship with Mr. Trump to profit from it, often hosting guests such as former porn actress Stormy Daniels on his broadcast.
Ms. Daniels alleges she had an affair with Mr. Trump, and the criminal case is centered on hush-money payments through Cohen to her.
The lead art on Cohen’s Twitter account is currently hawking a book called “Revenge,” which also focuses on Mr. Trump and is set for an Oct. 11 release.
Mr. Trump’s lawsuit also asserts that the ex-president should receive financial royalties from Cohen’s work for disclosing inside information about their business dealings.
“Defendant breached his fiduciary duties owed to Plaintiff by virtue of their attorney-client relationship by both revealing Plaintiff’s confidences, and spreading falsehoods about Plaintiff, likely to be embarrassing or detrimental, and partook in other misconduct in violation of New York Rules of Professional Conduct,” the 34-page complaint read.
Cohen had worked for Mr. Trump as his personal attorney beginning in 1996. After Mr. Trump became president, Cohen went on to do other legal and consulting work, earning about $500,000 a year, according to the lawsuit.
Cohen paid $130,000 in 2016 to Ms. Daniels as hush money to keep her from coming forward publicly about her affair with the billionaire during his presidential campaign.
Mr. Trump denies the affair and also denies that the money was paid for his political benefit and aspirations.
Cohen went to prison in 2019 after pleading guilty to charges related to tax fraud, lying to federal officials in relation to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and a campaign-finance violation.
The campaign finance violation, tied to the payment to Ms. Daniels, is also part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against the former president, whom he indicted last week on 34 charges of falsifying business records.
Cohen was disbarred from practicing law in 2019 and eventually released from prison in 2021. He faced a three-year prison sentence, but spent most of it in home confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.