Donald Trump‘s former personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen will settle a dispute with the Trump Organization over unpaid legal bills.
The settlement came Friday, just days before the civil trial was set to begin. Cohen filed his lawsuit in 2019, arguing the former president’s real-estate business owed him more than $1 million for fees he had paid to attorneys to represent him in various investigations related to Trump.
Those inquiries included special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into allegations of collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia as well as investigations from Senate and House committees probing Russian interference in that election.
Cohen claimed he had agreements with the Trump Organization — both written and oral — that he would be reimbursed. He claimed in his filing the Trump Organization initially paid these bills but stopped after he agreed to cooperate in ongoing investigations.
“By failing to indemnify Mr. Cohen, as required under the indemnification agreement, only after it became clear that Mr. Cohen would cooperate in ongoing investigations into his work for the Trump Organization and its principals, directors, and officers, the Trump Organization breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the indemnification agreement,” reads the filing.
Trump’s former attorney also set up a GoFundMe page earlier this year to defray some of the costs he has incurred. “No one has done more to hold Trump accountable for his corruption and authoritarian behavior than Michael,” claimed the post.
Jurors had already been selected and sworn in and the trial was set to begin on Monday. Both Cohen and Donald Trump Jr. were expected to testify.
The exact dollar amount of the settlement is unknown.
Cohen’s relationship with the former president goes back to the mid-2000s. In one example of his role as Trump’s fixer, Cohen arranged a hush-money payment on Trump’s behalf to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments. Cohen testified to the grand jury before the indictment and is expected to be the star witness in next year’s trial.
The former president has also filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida against Cohen. He is seeking $500 million in damages, alleging Cohen breached attorney-client confidentiality.
Cohen is seeking to have that lawsuit dismissed.