Donald Trump is suing his former lawyer who is a key witness in the “hush money” criminal case against him for more than $500million (£400m).
The former president, who denies all the charges against him, says Michael Cohen has caused “vast reputational harm” for talking publicly about the alleged payments.
The suit accused Mr Cohen of breaking a confidentiality agreement he signed as a condition of his employment, violating ethical standards for lawyers and “spreading falsehoods” about Mr Trump “with malicious intent and to wholly self-serving ends.”
Mr Trump is not specifically suing Mr Cohen over his grand jury testimony in the criminal case, but he cites it in support of an argument that his ex-lawyer sought to profit from his role through the publication of two books, a podcast series and media appearances.
Mr Cohen’s spokesman, attorney Lanny Davis, said the lawsuit will not deter Mr Cohen’s cooperation with prosecutors and predicted it would fail.
“Mr Trump appears once again to be using and abusing the judicial system as a form of harassment and intimidation against Michael Cohen,” Mr Davis said. “It appears he is terrified by his looming legal perils and is attempting to send a message to other potential witnesses who are cooperating with prosecutors against him.”
The criminal case against Mr Trump, brought last week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, accuses the former president of falsifying 34 business records at his company to hide the true nature of 11 checks paid to Mr Cohen to reward him for work covering up Mr Trump’s extramarital affairs.
Those checks, prosecutors said, reimbursed Mr Cohen for a $130,000 payment he made on Mr Trump’s behalf to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who had been in negotiations to sell her story of an alleged sexual encounter with the Republican.
Mr Cohen is also said to have played a role in arranging payments to the Playboy model Karen McDougal and to a Trump Tower doorman.
Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and says the alleged encounters with Ms Daniels and Ms McDougal never happened.
Cohen worked as Mr Trump’s attorney for over a decade. He was also a vice-president at the Trump Organization, and was often described as Mr Trump’s fixer. But the two had a major falling out after the 2016 election, as investigators began looking into several of Mr Trump’s aides.
In 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine after pleading guilty to charges of fraud and campaign finance violations.
Now out of prison, Cohen has become a high-profile critic of Mr Trump, and a frequent guest on news programmes.
