Trump drops lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen due to conflict with presidential campaign schedule

10/11/2023 / By Laura Harris

Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn a lawsuit against his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, due to the growing conflict between the lawsuit and his presidential campaign.

According to the court filing submitted by Alejandro Brito, a Florida-based attorney for Trump, the former president was dropping the case with no explanation. However, the filing stated that the dismissal was “without prejudice.” In short, Trump could potentially re-file the lawsuit in the future.

“President Trump has decided to temporarily pause his meritorious claims against Michael Cohen. Once President Trump has prevailed in dealing with the witch hunts against him, he will continue to pursue his claims against Michael Cohen, who rightfully deserves to, and will be held accountable for his unlawful words and actions,” a spokesperson for Trump said.

The unexpected move comes as Trump faces multiple criminal cases and a scheduled deposition. A judge had previously ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in the Cohen lawsuit on Oct. 16 in New York. However, Trump had postponed the deposition twice and tried to reschedule it on Oct. 15. The judge remained firm, insisting on the deposition on the said date.

But Trump announced a campaign rally in New Hampshire on that same date to further conflict the demands on his schedule.

In response to the decision, Cohen released a statement suggesting that Trump was avoiding the prospect of a deposition where he would have to answer questions under oath. “Mr. Trump’s cowardly dismissal spells the end of this latest attempt to deter me from providing truthful testimony against him,” Cohen stated.

Cohen plays key role in Trump indictment

The lawsuit in question was filed by Trump in April in federal court in South Florida, alleging that Cohen had breached attorney-client privilege and a confidentiality agreement by making public allegations about Trump.

This indictment of Trump comes after the unrelated December 2022 conviction of his family business, the Trump Organization, for tax fraud.

The origins of Trump’s indictment can be traced back to the 2018 federal conviction of Cohen, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance felony for facilitating the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels and received a three-year prison sentence. Both Cohen and federal prosecutors stated that he acted “in coordination with and at the direction of” the former president.

“I stand by my testimony and the evidence that I provided to the district attorney of New York,” Cohen said during an interview on MSNBC.

But Trump consistently denied the affair and even released a statement shortly after the news. He described it as a “witch hunt” and claimed that it was an attempt by Democrats to interfere in the 2024 election. (Related: ‘The witch hunt against me is DEAD’: Trump says left-wing Manhattan DA ‘tricked’ by ‘fraud’ star witness in Stormy Daniels case.)

“This is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history,” Trump said in a statement. “The Democrats have lied, cheated, and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable — indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant election interference.”

Visit Trump.news for more stories about the former president.

Watch Newsmax‘s Chris Salcedo as he talks to legal expert Alan Dershowitz about Trump’s indictment below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.