Donald Trump has dropped his $500 million lawsuit against Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer who is now a key witness in a criminal case against him, Cohen and a Trump spokesperson said. But the former president did not waive his right to sue again.
Trump had accused Cohen of “spreading falsehoods” “with malicious intent” and causing “vast reputational harm” for talking publicly about hush-money payments made to women during Trump’s 2016 campaign that are at the heart of criminal charges he faces in New York. Trump has also accused Cohen of breaking a confidentiality agreement that he signed as a condition of his employment. The former president and GOP front-runner’s decision comes days before he was set to give a deposition in the suit brought in April in Florida. That testimony was originally set for Oct. 3, but Trump rescheduled so he could attend the first three days of a separate New York civil fraud trial. Cohen is likely to testify in that trial next week.
A Trump spokesperson said Trump had decided “to temporarily pause” the suit against Cohen as he mounts another campaign for the White House and fights criminal charges in four separate jurisdictions.