March 7, 2019

Michael Cohen Sues Trump Organization Over Unpaid Legal Fees

The president’s former lawyer says he is owed millions of dollars in unreimbursed legal costs.

Douglas Christian/ZUMA

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Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney and longtime fixer, has sued the Trump Organization for failing to pay millions of dollars in legal fees in connection to his “work with and on behalf of the Organization and its principals, directors, and officers.”

In a lawsuit filed in New York on Thursday, Cohen claims that the Trump Organization stopped paying him in June 2018, shortly after he began signaling to friends and family that he was willing to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “As Mr. Cohen’s anticipated cooperation with the Special Counsel became known, President Trump publicly distanced himself from Mr. Cohen, stating on June 15, 2018 ‘I haven’t spoken to Michael in a long time,'” the lawsuit stated.

The Trump Organization’s decision to stop paying for Cohen’s legal work, the lawsuit claims, violated an agreement made nearly one year earlier that had stated the Trump Organization would cover Cohen’s attorney fees for his upcoming defense in multiple investigations involving the president. 

According to the lawsuit, Cohen’s legal fees have exceeded $1.9 million and continue to grow. 

 

 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

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